Cattle-laden truck falls into pond in Faridpur, leading to 10km tailback on highway

A truck carrying cattle veered off the road and plunged into a roadside pond in Faridpur Sadar this afternoon, causing a tailback stretching nearly 10 kilometres on the Dhaka-Barishal highway.

The incident took place around 2:30pm near Munshibazar High School when a Dhaka-bound truck from Jhenidah lost control and fell into a pond on the eastern side of the highway.

To recover the vehicle, the highway was closed temporarily as a crane was positioned on the road, with chains fastened to a roadside tree. This blocked both sides of the highway, triggering a gridlock from Talma to Munshibazar.

Witnesses said the recovery operation began around 3:00pm and concluded at 4:30pm.

During this period, traffic came to a complete standstill, stranding hundreds of vehicles on both ends of the highway.

Shahjalal Sardar, the truck driver, said he was transporting 12 cows from Jhenidah to Dhaka when he suddenly lost control of the vehicle, which then slipped into the pond.

"Thankfully, all 12 cows were safely rescued," he said.

The traffic congestion persisted from around 3:00pm to 5:30pm, disrupting vehicular movement.

Md Abdur Rahman, a bus driver, said, "Passengers became agitated. We couldn't reach our destination on time. It's very difficult to handle such pressure before Eid."

Zahir Hossain, a passenger of Malancha Paribahan travelling from Nagarkanda to Faridpur, said, "It took me half an hour to travel from Bhubukdia in Nagarkanda to Faridpur. I had to remain stuck near Bakhunda Bridge alone for two hours. To make matters worse, private cars squeezing through gaps worsened the gridlock."

Salahuddin Chowdhury, officer-in-charge (OC) of Karimpur Highway Police Station, said a temporary traffic jam was created during the truck recovery, but police acted swiftly to bring the situation under control.

He added that efforts were ongoing to keep highway traffic smooth ahead of the upcoming Eid holidays.