6 more lives lost in road crashes

At least six people died, and four others injured, in separate road accidents on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highways yesterday. One of the accidents involved a slow vehicle, which are banned from plying on highways.

On the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway, four people were killed and four others injured in a road accident at Chakaria area.

It occurred just one day after another such accident took seven lives on the same highway.

Mizanur Rahman, in-charge of Harabang Police Outpost, said the accident took place as a Cox's Bazar-bound lorry rammed a battery-run slow three-wheeler, locally known as “easy bikes”, at around 10:00am in front of Harbang Inani Resort, leaving one passenger dead on the spot.

He added that three others succumbed to their injuries after being taken to Chakaria Upazila Health Complex.   

The dead, all passengers of the easy bike, were identified as local ward Awami League President Abu Taher, 50, Taj Uddin, 24, from Chakraria, Yusuf Mia, 37, from Cox's Bazar and Hasina Begum, 30, from Chittagong, police said, adding that the four others injured were sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

On Tuesday, seven people were killed and 10 others were injured in a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a slow four-wheeler, locally known as “leguna”, on the same highway.

In both accidents, all those who died were passengers of the slow vehicles.

Md Farhad, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Highway Police in Comilla, said they withdrew Sergeant Nur-e-Alam, in-charge of Chiringa Highway Police Outpost, after Tuesday's incident.

“A three-member probe body, headed by Rahmatullah, additional superintendent of police, was formed after today's incident. The probe was instructed to submit their report within three working days,” said Farhad.

Earlier, about the plying of slow vehicles on the highway, Md Nazrul Islam, superintendent of police of Highway Police in Comilla, told The Daily Star that they had been trying to stop such vehicles on highways but one or two escaped the notice of on-duty police officials.

“Some of the vehicles were also given route permits before the High Court order to ban their plying on highways,” said the SP.

The SP also said they were investigating how the easy-bike entered the highway and whether it had route permit and registration papers.

However, following yesterday accident, police conducted drives on Chittagong- Cox's Bazar highway the rest of the day and seized several slow vehicles on the road, said ASP Farhad.

“The seized vehicles were sent for dumping,” he added.

Meanwhile, on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, an accident occurred at around 4:00am, when a running lorry hit a stationary lorry at Sonar Para area, killing a driver and a helper.

Sergeant Sohel Sardar of Zorargonj Highway Police Outpost said the dead were identified as Rumman Hossen Rubel, 22, from Laxmipur, and Ahmed Kabir, 38, from Cox's Bazar.

He said one of the lorries was stationary on the highway to fix a mechanical glitch.

“Rubel, helper of one lorry, was standing beside his vehicle to fix the glitch while Kabir, driver of the other lorry, sped into the other vehicle from behind. They both died on the spot,” Sohel said, adding that upon information, police and fire service officials rushed to the spot, recovered the bodies and handed them over to the victims' families.

A case was filed in this connection, he said.