For long, Billal Fakir, 40, and his family wanted a fourth child. On the day their wish was to be granted, fate betrayed them.

Billal, who used to work as an Imam of a mosque in Madaripur Sadar upazila, was taking his wife to a private hospital in Dhaka for her delivery yesterday when the ambulance's tyre started leaking.

The driver parked the ambulance at one edge of the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway at Nimatola area of Munshiganj to fix the leak when a bus of Golden Line Paribahan hit the parked vehicle from the rear.

The accident claimed five lives and injured five others, said Billal's cousin Miraj Ahmed.

Billal's mother Saheda Begum, 57, died on the spot, and the rest were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment, said Abdul Qader Jilani, the officer-in-charge of Munshiganj's Hasara Highway Police Station.

The ambulance driver Mahbub Sarder, 28; Billal; his father Abdus Samad Fakir, 60; and Billal's sister Afsana Akhter, 22, were brought dead to the hospital, said Md. Faruk, the in-charge of DMCH police outpost.

Billal's expecting wife Rozina Begum, 30; their younger daughter Marium Akhter, 5; Billal's sister-in-law Sharmin Akhter, 24; and brother-in-law Iqtar Hossain, 20, suffered injuries. They were provided with primary treatment, said Miraj.

Later, Rozina was taken to a private hospital in Dhanmondi, where she delivered a baby boy at around 5:30pm.

"She has mentally collapsed. She cannot enjoy the moment," Miraj told The Daily Star.

Police seized the bus and the ambulance, Jilani, the OC of Hasara Highway Police Station.

The bus driver was also injured in the accident and was undergoing treatment at the DMCH. The bodies were kept at the DMCH morgue for autopsy, Faruk said.

Police arrested the bus supervisor and helper.

A case was yet to be filed when this report was submitted around 10:00pm.

3 KILLED IN TANGAIL

Three people were killed after a small truck rear ended a low-bed trailer truck on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Mirzapur upazila yesterday afternoon.

Two of the deceased were identified as Alamin, driver of the small truck, and Nikail allais Uzzal, who was traveling in the small truck, said police.

Masud Khan, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, said the accident happened around 5:00pm in Gorai Mill Gate area.

The OC said the driver of the trailer truck fled the scene with the vehicle.

[Our correspondents in Munshiganj and Tangail contributed to the report]