2 killed as auto-rickshaw hit by lorry on way to Biswa Ijtema

Two people were killed and seven others injured as a lorry hit a battery-run auto-rickshaw that was taking passengers to the Biswa Ijtema Ground in Gazipur this morning.

The deceased were identified as Jony, 17, son of Monir Mia and a student of Narsingdi's Shibpur area, and Sohel, 37, from the same area.

The injured are Firoz Mia, 50, Zahirul Islam, 52, Jisan, 22, Nazrul, 50, Zahid Hasan, 25, Iqbal Hossain, 55, from Narsingdi, and Anisur Rahman, 40, from Satkhira.

Tongi Police Station Sub-Inspector Nureza Akhtar told our Gazipur correspondent that a microbus carrying the passengers started for Tongi from Narsingdi's Shibpur early in the morning.

When it reached Mirer Bazar in Pubail, it got stuck in traffic and the passengers got down from the vehicle and took and auto-rickshaw to go to the Ijtema ground, the SI added.

The lorry hit the auto-rickshaw around 6:30am near Mirer Bazar, leaving Jony and Sohel dead on the spot, SI Akhtar added.

Tongi Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital Resident Medical Officer Tariq Hasan confirmed the deaths and said all the injured were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Tongi East Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Mostafizur Rahman said the lorry driver escaped soon after the accident.