273 people killed, 447 hurt in road accidents during 15-day Eid rush: report
Al least 273 people were killed and 447 others injured in 240 road accidents over 15 days of the rush surrounding Eid-ul-Azha, a passenger welfare platform said today.
Besides, 11 were killed and five injured in nine railway-related accidents while 13 more died, 36 suffered injuries and 21 went missing in accidents on waterways between July 14 and 28, it said.
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity revealed the information at a press conference at Dhaka Reporter's Unity. The organisation prepared the report based on media reports.
While presenting the report, the platform's Secretary General Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said the country was under the nationwide lockdown on seven of the 15 days on which the report was based.
As the government relaxed lockdown for eight days centring Eid-ul-Azha, a huge number of private cars, motorcycles and three-wheelers took to the streets alongside public transport like buses and mini-buses.
As a result, the number of road accidents and deaths were relatively high compared to the corresponding reports done in the previous six years, Mozammel said. However, the number of accidents came down after the lockdown resumed from July 23, he added.
Like in previous reports, number of motorcycle accidents was the highest. At least 91 people were killed and 59 were injured in 87 motorcycle accidents during this time, 36.25 percent of the total number of accidents and 34.06 percent of total deaths, Mozammel said.
Among the victims were 106 drivers (87 dead), 19 transport workers (16 dead), and 64 were pedestrians (53 dead), he also said.
According to the report, 27 of the deceased were women, 17 were children, nine students and nine teachers.
Head-on collisions comprised 25.83 percent of the accidents while in 44.25 percent cases vehicles hit pedestrians from behind and 18.33 percent accidents occurred while the vehicles veered off the roads after drivers lost control.
Among the accidents, 33.33 percent occurred on national highways while 43.33 percent on regional highways and 18.33 percent on feed roads.
The organisation also proposed eight recommendations, including providing the drivers with necessary training, constructing separate lanes for slow moving vehicles, and proper implementation of Road Transport Act to reduce road accidents.