Death of four in road mishap sparks protest
Highway blocked, vehicles attacked in Barisal
Locals blocked Barisal-Banaripara-Swarupkathi highway and damaged three buses following deaths of four people in an accident on the road in Babuganj upazila yesterday morning.
The accident occurred when a Sharshina-bound bus from Faridpur with the followers of pir of Sharshina on board hit a rickshaw van at Badla point at around 11:15am, killing the driver of the van and its three passengers on the spot.
The dead are rickshaw-van driver Razzak, 27, and its passengers Bahadur Duari, 25, son of Majid Duari, Salahuddin, 35, son of Abdul Latif, and Humayun Chowkidar, 29, son of Hossain Chowkidar. All the four hailed from Badla village of Babuganj upazila.
Immediately after the accident, locals put up a barricade on the road disrupting traffic for two hours. They withdrew the barricade at around 2:00pm after AL lawmaker Manirul Islam Moni, local political leaders and the officer-in-charge of Babuganj Police Station assured them of taking action against the bus driver.
According to the bus passengers, the accident took place as the driver lost control over the steering. It (bus) hit the rickshaw van, killing four people on the spot and then plunged into a roadside ditch, they added.
At least 20 passengers of the bus received injuries. Locals rescued the injured and sent them to Banaripara Upazila Health Complex and Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital.
The driver of the killer bus and its helpers managed to flee the scene soon after the mishap. A murder case was filed against the driver and helpers of the bus with the police station concerned. Police said they are looking for the accused.
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