Overspeeding main cause of Madaripur crash: probe body member
The probe body formed to investigate Sunday's Madaripur bus crash, which claimed the lives of 19 people, has identified overspeeding as the primary cause of the accident.
"However, we could not confirm whether its tyre burst or not. Besides, it is also possible that the driver fell asleep over the steering," said a member of the probe body, seeking anonymity.
There might be two reasons behind the bus skidding off the road -- firstly, its tyre could burst and secondly, the driver could have lost control over the steering due to drowsiness or carelessness, he told The Daily Star this evening, reports our Shariatpur correspondent.
"But none of the two possibilities could be confirmed yet. Further investigation by technical experts of Buet is required to find the actual cause," he added.
Earlier on Sunday morning, the Emad Paribahan bus that was heading towards Dhaka from Khulna went off the Dhaka-Bhanga expressway at Madaripur's Shibchar upazila and crashed, killing 19 people.
Hours after the accident, the Madaripur district administration formed a four-member committee to probe the crash. The committee, led by an additional district magistrate Pallab Kumar Hazra, was asked to submit the report within three working days.
The committee's other members are -- Madaripur's additional superintendent of police Md Moniruzzaman Fakir, Buet's Assistant Professor Shahnewaz Hasanat-E-Rabbi, and BRTA Assistant Director Mohammad Nurul Hossain.
Contacted this evening, Pallab Kumar Hazra said they would submit the report by Tuesday night and would hold a press conference on Wednesday to disclose the probe findings.