Mawa expressway crash: Everything was wrong with the bus

Friday's road crash on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway that claimed the lives of six people and injured four others was inevitable.

The bus of Bepari Paribahan had been in operation without fitness clearance for over a year. The 26-year-old driver involved in the collision had no valid driving licence.

He had recently notified the bus owner about problems with the brakes. But the owner did not pay heed and asked him to "drive slowly".

Things don't end here. The bus, which hit the street Friday after repairs, had no valid route permit or updated tax documents.

In order to have the bus operate under the company, the bus owner "paid off" the owner of Bepari Paribahan, Dablu Bepari, a close associate of Shajahan Khan, a top transport leader and former Awami League lawmaker, now in jail.

Six people from two families were killed when the bus rammed into three other vehicles stationary at the expressway toll plaza in South Keraniganj ​on Friday morning.

Read more

Bus driver among 2 arrested over Dhaka-Mawa Expressway crash

A video of the incident showed that the speedy bus, instead of stopping at the toll plaza, hit a car from behind, then a microbus, and a motorcycle.

Rab arrested the bus driver Nuruddin on Friday night.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) cancelled the registration of the bus yesterday. Later in the night, police arrested bus company owner Dablu Bepari in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur.

A case has been filed with South Keraniganj Police Station by a family member of one of the victims.

FAILURE OF AUTHORITIES

The operation of buses and trucks without route permits and fitness certificates is nothing new in Bangladesh.

After many major road crashes, it was found that the vehicles were operating without valid documents, road safety campaigners said.

Speaking on the matter, Abdur Rahman, sub-inspector of Hashara Highway Police Station, said the documents of vehicles using the expressway were checked as much as possible.

"Whenever we find vehicles without proper documents, we file cases against them. Yet, somehow, they managed to operate on the roads," he told this newspaper yesterday.

On the other hand, BRTA can do very little to take action against unfit vehicles due to a lack of manpower.

While it can conduct mobile court drives in some major cities, including Dhaka and Chattogram, the BRTA has to depend on local administration to carry out drives in the districts, sources said.

In April this year, 6.17 lakh vehicles did not go through the mandatory annual fitness test, according to BRTA.

NO ROUTE PERMIT, FITNESS

The bus involved in the collision (Dhaka Metro Ba 14-5170) was registered under Dhaka Metro Circle 2 (Ekuria) in July 2010.

According to BRTA officials, its fitness clearance expired in October last year.

On Friday, the bus was heading for Kuakata in Patuakhali, violating its approved route. The bus was approved for the Dhaka (Sayedabad)-Padma Bridge-Bhanga-Khulna route. However, even that route permit expired in March of this year.

The bus was also operating without updated tax documents. The deadline for updating the bus's tax token had expired in July last year.

'GP MONEY'

The owner of the bus was mentioned as Nitol Motors, a major importer of commercial vehicles, when it was registered with BRTA 14 years ago.

A BRTA official said the bus appears to have been procured under a loan, and that's why Nitol Motors' name was mentioned as its owner.

The official explained that the original owner might not have changed the ownership formally. As a result, Nitol Motors still appears as the bus owner on the BRTA database, he said, wishing not to be named.

A source in the road transport sector said a man named Md Mostafa of Bhola was operating the bus under Bepari Paribahan by paying the company Tk 800 daily.

Speaking to this newspaper around 6:40pm, Bepari Paribahan owner Dablu admitted that the bus was in operation under his company in exchange for "GP money" or "Gate Pass money". He, however, claimed he was not aware that the bus had no valid documents.

As per the rules of the Road Transport Act 2018, if a bus has to be operated under a company, that bus has to be registered under the specific company, a BRTA director said

"So, operation of this particular bus under Bepari Paribahan is illegal," he said, wishing anonymity.

Currently, 10 buses are now being operated under Bepari Paribahan, and only three of these are owned by him, according to Dablu.

When this correspondent called Md Mostafa, the original owner of the bus, his daughter picked up the phone.

"My father fell ill after learning about the crash. He is not in a position to talk right now," his daughter said.

INVALID DRIVING LICENCE

After arresting driver Nuruddin from Narayanganj's Siddhirganj, Rab said he had not renewed his driving license.

During the primary interrogation, Nuruddin claimed that the bus, which was put into service Friday after repairs, had brake issues, said Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Taposh Karmakar, also media officer of the Rab-10.

The bus was sitting idle for a long time before repairs, Taposh said, quoting the driver.

However, the driver realised from the beginning that the vehicle's braking system was not working properly. When the bus owner was informed about it, he asked the driver to drive slowly, the Rab official said.

The bus driver claimed that the bus could not be stopped despite engaging the brakes several times before the crash, Taposh added.

While a probe committee is investigating Friday's crash, BRTA officials said that the driver seemed inexperienced after observing his manoeuvres moments before the crash.

They said even in the event of brake failure, skilled drivers, with control over the steering, are able to stop a vehicle and minimise damage by carefully contacting a sturdy structure.