Ambulance-truck collision kills five

Five people, including three of a family, were killed and four others injured when a truck and an ambulance collided on the East Link Road to Bangabandhu Bridge yesterday morning.

Police said the deceased are Farida Begum, 35, her daughter Maria, 16, and sister Ferdousy Begum, 40, of Chattogram, and ambulance driver Saddam Hossain, 30, and his assistant Jewel Miah, 28, of Sirajganj.

Farida's other daughter Mahi, 8, was admitted to Tangail General Hospital with critical injuries.

The crash happened around 7:30am, leaving the ambulance driver and two passengers dead at the scene, said Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge East Police Station.

Two others died after they were taken to Tangail General Hospital by the police and firefighters, he added.

Khandakar Sadiqur Rahman, assistant director of the hospital, told The Daily Star that the four other victims have serious injuries.

The ambulance left Chattogram around 12:00am for Khajwa Yunus Medical College and Hospital in Sirajganj, where Farida was to receive chemotherapy, said a family member named Mohammad Rasel.