Eight more lives lost on roads

Eight people, including four of a family, were killed in two road accidents in Munshiganj and Dinajpur yesterday.

Four people, including two children, were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a CNG-run three-wheeler in Dinajpur's Chirirbandar upazila yesterday morning.

The dead are Uttam Roy, 40, and his wife Pallavi Roy, 32, and their two children. Names of the children, aged between 10 and 12, could not be known immediately, said Bazlur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Chirirbandar Police Station.

Quoting locals and eyewitnesses, the OC said a Phulbari-bound bus of Keya Paribahan collided head-on with a Dinajpur-bound CNG-run three-wheeler in Shibpur area on Dinajpur-Phulbari highway around 10:30am.

The two children died on the spot, said the OC, adding that four other injured, including the three-wheeler driver, were taken to Dinajpur M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital.

The parents died at the hospital.

Meanwhile, at least four people were killed and 19 others hurt as a bus hit a stationary truck in Munshiganj's Sreenagar upazila yesterday.

The accident took place on Dhaka-Mawa highway around 9:00am, said Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman Al Mamun, superintendent of Munshiganj police.

Three of the dead are Hajera Begum, 50, Saiful Islam, 30, and Arif, 23. The other could not be identified immediately.

Hajera and Saiful died on the spot while the rest breathed their last on the way to hospitals.

Four of the injured were referred to Dhaka for treatment.

The Shariatpur-bound bus of Padma Travels hit the truck that had broken down on the fast lane, said Molla Zakir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Hasrana Highway Police Station.

Traffic on the highway was disrupted for around an hour following the accident, said SP Mamun.

In most years, there is an increase in road accidents and casualties during Eid vacations, when a large number of people from the capital travel to their home districts.

According to data from the Road Safety Foundation, at least 376 people died and 1,500 were injured in road accidents over 14 days during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays in 2022.

According to another road safety organisation, Jatri Kalyan Samity, the numbers were 418 people dead and 844 injured in the 15 days.