9 picnickers killed in Ctg bus crash

At least nine people were killed and 30 others injured in a road accident yesterday morning at Lohagara upazila of the district.
Nine picnickers including a child and two women were killed when their bus plunged into a roadside ditch around 9:30am at Chunati under Lohagara upazila as the driver lost control over steering.
Eight of the deceased identified are Sunny, 02, Sajeda, 45, Halima Khatun, 52, Kamruzzaman, 70, Shahidul Islam, 32, Anwar Hossain, 65, Matiur Rahman 47, and Mohammad Ali, 60. The name of the dead bus conductor, aged around 40, could not be known.
Police and witnesses said the accident took place when around 55 to 60 people including teachers of Koichar Siddika Dakhil Madrasha and Fapor High School of Bogra sadar upazila and their families were returning Bogra after a picnic at a Cox's Bazar tourist resort.
The injured were sent to Lohagara and Satkania health complexes and later four of them were shifted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
At CMCH Mizanur Rahman, a picnicker who survived the accident, told The Daily Star that seeing a speeding bus coming from the opposite direction, their bus driver tried to let the to pass but ended by running into the fatal accident.
“I saw five of my fellow picnickers die on the spot and there might be a few stuck beneath the bus,” Mizanur added.
Highway Police Inspector Suza Uddin said nine people were killed instantly and 30 others sustained injuries. Seven bodies were recovered from inside the bus and two from beneath it.
Shipping Minister Afsarul Amin visited the injured at CMCH around 1:30pm.