At least 15 people, including five members of two families, were killed and 20 others injured as a bus collided head-on with a human haulier on Natore-Pabna highway in Baraigram upazila yesterday.

Police said all the dead were passengers of the human haulier, locally known as Laguna which is banned from plying highways.

The accident took place around 3:45pm when the Rangpur-bound bus of Challenger Paribahan rammed the front of the Pabna-bound Laguna on the highway in Kadamchhilan Clickmor area, said Shamsur Noor, officer-in-charge of Banpara Highway Police station.

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

The bus skidded and plunged into a roadside ditch. Both the vehicles were badly damaged.

On information, fire service and police teams from Lalpur and Banpara highway police stations rushed to the spot, some 30 kilometres off Natore town; recovered the bodies and sent the injured to different hospitals.

Police until last night confirmed the identities of 13 deceased. They are Adori Biswas, 35, her 10-month-old daughter Swapna Biswas and son Prottoy Biswas, 12, from Pabna's Muladuli upazila, Shapla Khatun, 22, and her 11-month-old daughter Suraiya Khatun Maisha, Rozufa, 45, and her sister-in-law Shefali Begum, 40, from Rajapur, Lobejan Begum, 65, from Baraigram, Abdus Sobhan, 70, from Pabna's Pakshey, Laguna driver Abdur Rahim, 22, and his helper Raja, 20, from Sayedpur of Nilphamari, Johra Khatun, 60, from Pabna's Iswardi and Mohammad Rokon, 22, from Tangail's Gopalpur.

According to law enforcers, 10 people died on the spot, three on way to hospitals and the two others while undergoing treatment at hospitals.

Police could not ascertain the identity of the bus driver.

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Quoting witnesses, Sub-Inspector Nazrul Islam of Lalpur Police Station said the Laguna driver drove to the middle of the Natore-Pabna highway as he tried to avoid hitting an elderly man who was crossing the road.

However, deceased Rozufa's brother Muhammad Hussain Ali said he heard from some injured bus passengers at a hospital that the vehicle tried to overtake a truck several times. “The bus rammed the front of the Laguna within moments after overtaking the truck,” he said quoting an injured as saying.

Jahangir Alam, an employee of Sadia Filling Station near the accident spot, said he came out of his office hearing a bang and found people in a pool of blood in the damaged human haulier.

Farhana Mim, a Mathematics student at Pabna Edward College, was found lamenting over the body of her grandfather Abdus Sobhan at Bonpara Highway Police Station around 8:30pm.

She said she lost her father in 2004 and mother one and a half years ago. Her grandfather, a dried fish trader, had been looking after her.

Senior officials of Natore district administration and police visited the spot after the accident.

Meanwhile, the district administration has announced that it will give Tk 20,000 to each family of the deceased and Tk 10,000 to each family of the injured.

Natore Deputy Commissioner Shahina Khatun said a three-member probe committee was formed yesterday to investigate the accident. Headed by Additional District Magistrate Md Saiduzzaman, the committee will submit its report within three days.

Law enforcers until last night handed over six bodies to the victims' family members.

COMMITTEE TO PROBE ACCIDENTS

The Road Transport and Highways Division yesterday formed an investigation committee to find out the reasons behind the road accidents that took place at different places, including Narsingdi, Feni and Natore before and after the Eid-ul-Azha.

The 10-member body was formed as per directives of Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, said Abu Naser, senior information officer at the ministry.

Led by Safiqul Islam, the ministry's additional secretary, the committee has been asked to submit its report within 10 days.