-- No respite from road mishaps near Bangabandhu bridge

-- 5 killed as bus smashed three wheeler CNG in Mulibari

-- Obaidul Kader visits the spot

Yet another tragic road crash at Mulibari point of Bangabandhu Bridge in Sirajganj took five more lives early today.

The five, including two of a family, were killed and another was injured as a CNG-run auto-rickshaw crashed into a bus at Mulibari level-crossing around 1:00am, reports our Pabna correspondent.

The accident took place when a Chapainawabganj-bound bus of Shaymoli Paribahan from Narayanganj rammed the auto-rickshaw, killing five of the six passengers of the auto-rickshaw, including its driver, on the spot, said Md Helal Uddin, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge West Zone Police Station.

The deceased are Razzak, 65, and his daughter Rosina, 30,  Anwar Hossain, 25, son of Delwar Hossain, Momtaz, 24, wife of Abdur Razzak, and the auto-rickshaw driver Arman, 30.

All the deceased hailed from different villages of Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj, police said.

The other passenger, Md Jakir Hossain, 37, was injured in the accident and taken to Sirajganj General Hospital, the OC said.

"The Chapainwabganj-bound bus was speedy and its driver lost control and hit the Belkuchi-bound CNG auto-rickshaw," said the police official.

The bus was seized but its driver and helper managed to escape from the scene, he added.

"DEATH ZONE"

Earlier, 17 people were killed and around 40 injured as two passenger buses collided head-on at the same spot early Sunday, the day after Eid-ul-Fitr.

Also three of a family died on the same place on Thursday evening as a speedy bus hit a motorbike. 

"Two-lane road in Mulibari point causes repeated accidents for it has no road divider despite being the busiest point of Bangabandhu bridge link road," said Miraz Uddin Ahmed, superintendent of police (SP) in Sirajganj.

MINISTER VISITS SPOT

Meanwhile, following repeated accidents at Mulibari point, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Kader visited the spot this morning.

He assured people of setting up road divider on the spot from the Bangabandhu Bridge to Hatikumrul point as early as possible.