Four die in pickup, autorickshaw collision in Bagerhat

Four people were killed and another injured in a head-on collision between a pickup truck and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Bagerhat-Khulna highway in Bagerhat's Nawapara town  yesterday.

Three of the victims were identified as Shawkat, 40, Masum, 30, and Nipa, 28, a teacher at a government primary school in Bagerhat Sadar, said police.

The identity of the other deceased could not be known immediately.

The accident occurred around 9:30am when a Khulna-bound pickup collided with the auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction, said Ashraful Haque, sub-inspector of Katakhali Highway Police Station.

The driver of the pickup fled the scene immediately after the crash, he said.

Tanvir Islam Anik, duty doctor of Fakirhat Upazila Health Complex, confirmed that three victims were declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

The two injured were later transferred to Khulna Medical College Hospital, where one of them succumbed to injuries.

The bodies of the deceased are currently at the police station, the SI said.

Meanwhile, 17 people, including five children, were injured in a road crash at Nabinagor Technical area on Dhaka-Sherpur road in Sherpur Sadar upazila yesterday.

The accident occurred when two microbuses collided head on around 5:30am, said Mohammad Jahangir Alam, officer-in-charge of Sherpur Sadar Police Station, quoting locals.

Locals rushed to the spot and took the injured to Sherpur General Hospital. From there, 13 critically injured were referred to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, said the OC.

Now eight, including four children, are undergoing treatment at MMCH, he added.

A case was lodged with the police station in this connection.