Vehicles of death on the street again

Shampa and Shaheen

A reckless bus killed a youth and his five-month pregnant wife in the capital's Moghbazar yesterday morning.
Saiful Islam Shaheen, 35, sales executive of a private firm, and his wife Soheli Akhter Shampa, 30, administrative officer of the daily Janakantha, were riding a motorcycle when the bus hit them from behind around 8:45am.
Saiful, whose head was crushed under wheels, died on the spot, and three hours later, Shampa succumbed to her injuries in hospital.
In last couple of weeks, rash driving in the city claimed life of a college girl and a Buet student.
Monir Hossain, who saw the accident in between Moghbazar intersection and level crossing, said, “As the bus rammed the bike, the woman was tossed onto the road. The man was dragged for around five yards before his head went under the wheels.”
Locals rushed Shampa to Holy Family Hospital. She was bleeding profusely from the head. Police took Shaheen's body to Dhaka Medical College Morgue.
Russell, another eye-witness, said the driver and his assistant fled the bus, leaving the engine still revving.
Shibli Noman, officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station, said the bus hit the bike shortly after both had crossed the level crossing and been heading towards the intersection.
An angry mob damaged the killer bus. Traffic movement on the busy thoroughfare, however, was not disrupted, as police reached the spot immediately, OC Noman added.
Locals alleged the policemen on duty at Moghbazar intersection, around 10-15 yards off the scene, had looked on, as the bus driver and his helper escaped through the crossing.
Meanwhile, a deathly hush fell on the house of Shampa's parents who live nearby their daughter's flat in Rampura Mahanagar housing.
Nurunnahar, the mother, passed out as the news came turning her world upside down.
She did not only lose her daughter, but also the first grandchild she and her husband had been longing to greet.
When Shampa conceived six months ago, it brought in a rush of joy to the family. The elderly couple had been passing the best time of their lives, weaving clothes and quilts and buying things necessary for a newborn, said Mahfuzur Rahman, a cousin of Shampa.
Nazmul Huda Shamim, Shaheen's younger brother, said Shaheen-Shampa got married around three years ago.
Shampa, who hailed from Jessore, joined Janakantha only a year back, while her husband had been working at Structural Engineering Ltd for a few years.
Shaheen used to take Shampa to Janakantha office on New Eskaton Road and then go to his office on Panthapath.
The bodies were taken to Shaheen's village home at Faridpur Sadar for burial, he added.
Shampa's relatives filed a case with Ramna Police Station yesterday.
One person gets killed and many more are wounded in road accidents in the city on average every day.
According to police, 98 percent of the accidents happen due to reckless driving. The usual culprits are minibuses, buses and other public transport.
Statistics of Accident Monitoring Cell of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Dhaka Metropolitan Police say 377 people died in 620 accidents in Dhaka in 2008. Of them, 283 were pedestrians.