11 more lives lost on roads

Deaths in road crashes continue as 11 more people lost their lives in accidents in 24 hours since Sunday night.  

Of the victims, three each were killed in Noakhali and Savar while one each in Jhenidah, Sylhet, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Gopalganj. At least 21 others were injured in the crashes, report our district correspondents.

Meanwhile, a probe committee, formed to investigate a head-on collision between a bus and human haulier that left 15 people dead in Natore on August 25, submitted its report to the deputy commissioner in the district yesterday. The body blamed both the drivers for the incident. It also came up with 12 recommendations for preventing further accidents.

In Savar, a pick-up carrying three people hit a parked truck from behind on Dhaka-Aricha highway in Boliapur area, leaving the three dead on the spot, said Shazzadur Rahman, inspector (investigation) of Savar Model Police Station.

The deceased were identified as Johurul Islam, 54, a civil engineer, Nurunnabi Sheikh, 38, a surveyor at Dhaka Wasa, and Kholilur Rahman, 54, the driver.

The accident took place around 2:45am yesterday when Johurul and Nurunnabi were returning home following a visit to the engineer's home in Sirajganj. 

On information, police recovered the bodies and sent them to the capital's Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

The pick-up was seized, Shazzadur added.

In Noakhali, three of a family were killed and four other people injured when a pick-up rammed a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on Feni-Choumohuni road in Senbagh upazila around 9:00am yesterday, said Moin Uddin, officer-in-charge of Senbagh Police Station.

The deceased, all passengers of the auto-rickshaw, were identified as Mohon, 35, his son Miran, 7, and his mother Firoza Begum, 53, police said.

Of the injured, the condition of Bibi Morjina and Md Masud -- both 30 – were serious. They were undergoing treatment at Noakhali General Hospital.

The driver of the pickup and his helper managed to flee, the OC said.

In Lalmonirhat's Aditmari upazila, a garment worker was killed and eight other people were injured as a truck and an easy bike collided head-on in Palli Bidyut area on Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway around 10:00am yesterday. The dead is Alamgir Hossain, 20, of the upazila.

The injured were admitted to Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital. Four of them were in critical condition, said Manjur Morshed Dolon, residential medical officer at the hospital.

Police seized the truck and arrested its driver, Fahim Islam, 22. A case was filed with Aditmari Police Station over the incident.

In Jhenidah, a six-year-old girl was killed after an auto-rickshaw hit her in Kaliganj upazila's Balarampur village around 11:00am yesterday.

The victim, Sadia Khatun, was the daughter of Jasim Uddin of the village.

Kaliganj Police Station OC Mizanur Rahman said the girl was playing on her house yard. She was hit as she got outside on the Kaliganj-Kola road.

The girl was rushed to Kaliganj health complex where doctors declared her dead, he added. 

In Sylhet city, a man died at a hospital around 10:00pm Sunday, about an hour after he had been run over by a microbus in Shibganj area. 

The deceased, Ibrahim Ali Rustom, 36, was an office assistant at Leading University in Sylhet.

Quoting witnesses, Akhter Hossain, OC of Shahporan Police Station, said the accident happened when Rustom was crossing a road.

Police arrested the microbus driver, Alam Mia, 25, and seized the vehicle.

In Gopalganj, one Sahid Talukder, 55, was killed and 10 others were injured when a bus overturned on Dhaka-Khulna highway in Vatiapara Chowrasta area of Kashiani upazila on Sunday.

Yesterday, an injured boy, Razib Hossain, 12, lost the battle for his life at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH). He had been injured in an accident when two buses collided head-on in CO Bazar area on Rangpur-Dinajpur highway, leaving another seven people dead on Sunday.

Enamul Habib, deputy commissioner of Rangpur, announced that each of the families of the victims would be given Tk 20,000.

Police sued the drivers of the buses and their helpers over the accident.

Monowar Hossain, a sub-inspector of Rangpur Sadar Police Station, filed the case with the police station, said Moktarul Alam, OC of the police station. He said they were trying to arrest the accused.

In Natore, the probe committee of the Natore district administration, which was formed following the August 25 road accident on Natore-Pabna highway, submitted its report to the DC.

Both the drivers of the bus and the human haulier were driving recklessly, it said in the report.

It also said both the vehicles had no route permits. Parts of the bus were brought as scraps and the human haulier was illegally modified as a microbus, it said.

The 12-point recommendations, given by the probe body, include widening the turning points on the highways, preventing the movement of unfit and illegal vehicles on it and checking irregularities in the transport sector.

According to a recent report of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, at least 259 people were killed and 960 injured in 237 road accidents from August 16 to 28, when the transport sector saw a huge rush of passengers due to the Eid vacation.

Even after the vacation, lives continue to perish on roads.

The CNG-run auto-rickshaw which encountered an accident that killed three people of a family in Noakhali on Monday, September, 3, 2018. Photo Star