A truck yesterday hit two female garment workers while they were crossing the road near the Chairmanbari area in Dhaka's Banani, leaving one of them dead and the other injured.

The incident took place at around 6:45am. The deceased was identified as Sumaiya Akhter, 19.

CCTV footage of the incident that later went viral showed that the victim, Sumaiya, had signalled the truck to stop while crossing the road, but the truck ran straight onto her and fled, leaving her dead on the spot.

Police arrested the driver of the truck, Titon Islam, last night, said Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Talebur Rahman.

Meanwhile, BRTA has suspended registration of the truck following the accident and said it would cancel the registration unless the owner visits its Dhaka Circle-2 office with other documents within three working days.

Photo: Prabir Das

After the accident, several hundred RMG workers blocked the road for around six hours protesting their fellow's death, which brought traffic to a standstill.

The gridlock stretched to nearby roads too, leaving office-goers and commuters stranded for hours.

Many were seen walking long distances to reach their destinations amid sweltering heat.

Though the protesters left the road after around six hours, commuters bore the brunt throughout the day.

"The protesters also blocked the expressway ramp near Banani Chairmanbari, halting operations since 7:40am. They left the expressway after around four hours, and operations resumed at 11:45am," said Hasib Hasan Khan, head of Traffic Safety and Security Department at First Dhaka Elevated Expressway O&M Company.

Mohammad Munna, 28, who was going to Kurmitola General Hospital with a hip injury, said it took him more than two hours to reach the hospital from Nikunja.

"The doctors there referred him to NITOR after giving primary treatment. On way to NITOR, we faced gridlocks yet again, taking another couple of hours to reach the hospital," said his nephew Osman Gani.

Shona Mia, 60, who was travelling to Gazipur with his wife, said, "We reached Sainik Club from Kochukhet only to find the road blocked. We waited for a bus for a long time, before we started walking. We are now exhausted. I don't know how much further we can go or whether we'd find a bus."

It took Afroja Begum, an office-goer from Mirpur, almost two hours to reach her office at Farmgate.

"I left for the office at 8:30am and reached at around 10:30am. The roads are completely gridlocked, with no way to move," she said.

Buses were seen dropping off passengers near Banani Graveyard before turning back towards the airport.