3-Day Eid Holidays: Road crashes kill at least 31

At least 31 people were killed and more than 100 others injured in road accidents during the three-day Eid holiday, while six others were killed in a single road crash in Feni yesterday.  

Besides, another 17 people were killed in two road crashes in Feni and Narsingdi on Monday, a day before the vacation.

Most of the road mishaps during the Eid holiday happened on national and regional highways. Motorcycles were involved in 10 of the 23 incidents while three accidents took place when buses and trucks hit auto-rickshaws, run by CNG and batteries, on highways where they are banned from plying.

The number of casualties could be higher as many accidents, especially on regional highways, go unreported.

During the Eid-ul-Azha holidays last year, road accidents had claimed at least 29 lives. The number was 32 in 2016, 30 in 2015, 26 in 2014, 10 in 2013 and 40 in 2012.

Of the 31 dead, five each were killed in Gopalganj, Bogra and Comilla, three each in Chittagong and Kushtia, two in Sirajganj, one each in Laxmipur, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Narail, Rajshahi, Natore, Khagrachhari and Dinajpur.

Talking about the issue, Kazi Md Shifun Newaz, assistant professor of Buet's Accident Research Institute, mainly blamed an increased number of motorcycles and three-wheelers on roads and poor monitoring of the traffic system following Eid for the loss of lives.

At least six people, including two women, were killed and two others injured as a bus collided with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Feni Sadar upazila yesterday.

The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.

Locals said the accident took place around 5:00pm when a Chittagong-bound bus hit the auto-rickshaw on the highway in Lemua area, leaving three auto-rickshaw passengers dead on the spot and four others injured.

The injured were taken to Feni Sadar Hospital where doctors declared three dead, Nazmul Hasan, residential medical officer of the hospital, said.

Quoting witnesses, Lemua Union Parishad Chairman Mosharraf Hossain said the accident happened when a team of Highway Police was chasing the three-wheeler as it was plying violating traffic rules.

Contacted, Abdul Awal, officer-in-charge of Mohipal Highway Police Station, denied the allegation that the vehicle was being chased by police.

He said the accident occurred as the auto-rickshaw was hit by the speeding bus while trying to take a u-turn.

In Gopalganj, three people were killed and 20 others injured when another speeding bus hit a roadside tree on Dhaka-Barishal highway in Maksudpur on Tuesday, the first day of the Eid vacation.

Sheikh Mahfuzur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Bhanga Highway Police Station in Faridpur, said the bus hit a roadside tree after the driver lost control of the steering around11:30am, leaving three passengers dead on the spot and 20 injured, UNB reported.

In Gopalganj Sadar upazila, two people, including a banker and an engineer, were killed and a woman was injured in a road accident on Dhaka-Khulna highway near Gopinathpur area on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as SM Arafat Hassan Prince, 36, a senior principal officer at Rupali Bank's Motijheel branch, and his cousin Shimul, 40, an engineer from Sonadanga area of Khulna city.

Police said the accident took place around 6:00am when their home-bound microbus was hit by a Dhaka-bound bus, leaving the two dead on the spot and another injured. The injured, Jahan Ferdousi Keka, wife of Prince, was admitted to Gopalganj General Hospital.

In Bogra, three people were killed and one was injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on Dhaka-Bogra highway on Wednesday.

All the victims were from Shahjahanpur upazila of Bogra and passengers of the three-wheeler.

Sushanta Kumar Saha, sub-inspector of Shahjahanpur Police Station, said the Bogra-bound bus from Dhaka collided head-on with the auto-rickshaw near Majhira bus stand area.

In another incident, two engineers died in Sherpur upazila of the district on Wednesday after their motorcycle hit a roadside tree in Salpa area, police said.

The deceased were identified as Shamim Reza, 28, a textile engineer, and Shohel Rana, 27, an architect from Sirajganj's Kazipur upazila.

In Comilla, a person was killed and 20 others were injured in a road accident on Thursday.

Abul Kalam Azad, officer-in-charge of Daudkandi Highway Police Station, said a car fell into a ditch along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway after being hit by a Dhaka-bound bus from Chandpur, leaving one dead.

The accident occurred as the bus driver lost control over the wheels, the OC said. The injured were sent to Daudkandi Upazila Health Complex, he added.

In another incident, a woman and her daughter were killed on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Burichang upazila on Wednesday, after a microbus hit them while they were crossing the road.

In Laksham upazila, a biker was killed when a bus rammed his bike in Bizra area, police said on Wednesday. Another biker was killed in Kotbari Crossing area on Dhaka-Chittagong highway the same day.

In Kushtia, at least three people, including a child, were killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a three-wheeler on Kushtia-Jhenaidah highway in Bottala area on Wednesday, reports UNB.

In Chittagong, a biker was killed as his motorbike turned turtle in Ranirhat area on Chittagong-Rangamati road on Thursday.

Two more motorcyclists were killed in separate road accidents in Bahaddarhat area of the port city and Anwara upazila of the district on Tuesday, reports BSS.

At least two people were killed and eight others were injured on Wednesday after a driver of a truck they were travelling lost control of the steering and skidded off into a roadside ditch near Bangabandhu Bridge in Sirajganj, police said.

The victims -- all goat traders -- were returning home from Dhaka.

In Gazipur, a woman was killed on Wednesday after a bus hit her near Tongi area when she along with her two children was crossing the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway

Victim Bithi Akhter, 30, was returning home from her sister's home at Dattapara in Tongi around noon, police said. The two kids were safe.

In other incidents, a man was killed and 20 other were injured in two accidents in Dinajpur, a 80-year-old man was killed in Munshiganj, a motorcyclist was killed and another injured in Laxmipur, a local BNP leader was killed in Rajshahi, a bus passenger was killed and 20 other were injured in Natore and a bus passenger was killed in Khagrachhari in separate accidents.