DC’s vehicle veers off road, kills child

A toddler was killed and his mother critically injured after they were hit by the SUV of Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner yesterday.

The crash happened as a motorcycle driving down the wrong side of the road fell under the wheel of the SUV, causing it to veer off course and hit the victims in the Mithachhari Kainnar Ghona area of Ramu, said Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Salauddin.

Tanzim, 2-year-old son of Mohammad Shahin and Rubina Akhter, was pronounced dead at a hospital, he added.

Rubina was taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital with critical injuries.

Salauddin, who was in the vehicle, said a professional chauffeur was driving him to Ukhiya at the time.

He added that the motorcyclist, who was on the wrong side to avoid a pothole, lost control and fell trying to avert a direct collision with the SUV.

Photo: Collected

The biker suffered minor injuries.

"As the front left tyre of the SUV got punctured, we immediately stopped a CNG-run three-wheeler and took the mother and the son to the nearby Hope Hospital and then to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital, where the child was declared dead around noon," the DC said.

Later the district administration made arrangements to send the mother to Chattogram Medical College Hospital.

Rubina's husband Shahin runs a small restaurant in Ramu.