Another young life lost on road

Fahmida Haque

She was on track to be an engineer and make her family’s dream come true. But her life was cut short by a road crash yesterday.

Fahmida Haque Labannya, 21, a third-year student of computer science and engineering department at Brac University, was killed after a pickup hit the motorcycle she was riding on from behind and ran over her, witnesses said.

The incident took place in front of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area around 11:15am while she was on the way to her university as the pillion passenger of a motorbike hired from the ride-sharing platform Uber.

Police identified the driver as one Suman, 23, who also got hurt in the incident and took primary treatment at the emergency section of nearby Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital. But police could not find him there as he left the hospital before they arrived.

The tragic accident left the family in shock. Farhanul Haque Mridul, younger brother of Fahmida, said her sister left their Shyamoli residence around 10:30am.

“She had a dream. She was going to be a computer engineer soon,” said the lamenting mother of Fahmida.

Sohel Rana, an eyewitness of the incident, said the bike was on the middle of the street around 11:15am when a lorry hit the motorcycle.

 “No sooner had the girl fell on the road than the speedy vehicle ran over her head while fleeing the scene,” Sohel told The Daily Star.

Sub-Inspector Nurul Islam said he checked the footage of the CCTV cameras installed nearby but they did not cover the accident spot.

Nurul took the phone number of Suman from the hospital’s register. But his mobile phone was found switched off.

SI Nurul said the ride-sharing companies were providing passengers’ helmets only for the sake of traffic rules and to dodge the eyes of the law enforcers.

“The girl was wearing a helmet, but it was too thin to protect her,” the police officer said.

Jane Alam Munshi, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, said police were trying to track the motorcyclist to know the details about the incident.

Hearing the news, many of her friends and university mates gathered at the hospital premises and asked how the roads would be made safer for commuters when deaths on road is unstoppable.

“Every time a young life is cut short, we start protesting. Is this how the things will go on?” asked a Brac University student.

The victim’s family demanded exemplary punishment of those involved in the incident.

The accident took place barely a month into the killing of university student Abrar Ahmed in a road crash that triggered massive protests over unsafe roads and poor traffic management.

ACCIDENTS TAKE MORE LIVES

In Chattogram, four day labourers were killed and two others were injured as a human haulier, locally known as Chander Gari, flipped over a roadside shanty in Rangunia upazila early yesterday.

The dead are Md Jafor, 35, Mohammad Riyad, 18, Md Nazim, 22, and Md Monaf, 52.

All of them were from Noakhali’s Hatiya upazila, said Imtiaz Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge of Rangunia Police Station.

Quoting locals, the OC said the driver of the wood-laden hauler lost his control over the wheels at around 4:00am and ran over a shanty beside the road where the workers were sleeping.

The victims used to work in a nearby brick kiln, the OC added.

The driver of the vehicle fled the scene immediately after the incident.

Police seized the vehicle, the OC said, adding that a case would be filed in this regard.

In a separate incident, a 12-year-old madrasa student was killed after being hit by a speedy car at Mirshahrai upazila in Chattogram yesterday evening.

The dead, Tabassum Maria, 12, was daughter of Kamal Uddin from the same upazila, said Assistant Sub-Inspector Alauddin Talukdar at Chattogram Medical College Hospital police outpost.

In Mymensingh, an old woman and her granddaughter were killed in a road accident at Kazir Shimla on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Trishal upazila on Wednesday night.

The victims were identified as Anwara Begum, 65, and her granddaughter Jannat, 7, of Khandakerbari at Kazirshimla in Trishal of Mymensingh.

Quoting locals, Md Azizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Trishal Police Station, said the two died on the spot when a Mymensingh-bound bus hit them while they were crossing the highway around 8:00pm.

The driver fled the scene immediately after the incident, the OC said, adding that a case was lodged in this connection.