Knock-on accident kills 4

In dense fog, a pickup tore through a police barricade set up to recover a flipped onion-laden truck and ran over four people who were collecting the onions on Bangabandhu Bridge approach road in Sirajganj.

Riaz Uddin, 45, Monirul Islam, 32, Jahidul Islam, 27, and Abdul Hamid, 35, were killed when they along with other poor people of Chokpara village rushed to the scene of an accident to collect onions early yesterday.

Five others were also injured.

The onion-laden truck had flipped over around 4:30am on the highway blocking it, and the poor villagers saw the opportunity to get free onions, said Abdul Kader Jilani, officer-in-charge of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station.

Police set up a barricade but the pickup apparently did not see it.

It ploughed into the people and killed Riazul and Monirul on the spot. The other two died of their injuries on their way to Sirajganj General Hospital.

Driver of the pickup ran away but the vehicle was seized from the spot, the OC said, adding that reckless driving in dense fog was to blame.

Sources claimed that the police had asked the locals to pick up the onions from the highway so that the road could be opened.

Refuting the allegation, Officer-In-Charge Mostafizur Rahman of Salanga Police Station said, “… locals rushed to the spot immediately to collect free onions.”

The incident created a huge traffic jam on the highway that connects Dhaka to northern districts.

Traffic flow was restored after an hour, sources said.