The wreckage of a bus lying by Dhaka-Natore highway after colliding head-on with another bus yesterday afternoon. The accident left 33 passengers dead. Twelve were from Sidhuli village of Gurudaspur upazila alone. Those from Sidhuli were returning from a district court. Photo: TV grab

In one of the country's deadliest-ever road crashes, at least 33 people were killed and scores injured in Natore yesterday.

The accident occurred around 3:30pm at Rijur Intersection on Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway when a Rajshahi-bound Keya Paribahan bus from Dhaka overtook a truck and rammed a Gurudaspur-bound local bus of Othoi Paribahan coming from the opposite direction, witnesses said.

Of the dead, 12 people were from Sidhuli village of Gurudaspur upazila alone, according to a list of victims released by Baraigram upazila administration of Natore. Most of them were returning from Natore court after attending a case proceeding there.

The two bus drivers too were reportedly killed in the head-on collision.

The Keya Paribahan bus, according to BBC Bangla, was carrying a number of admission seekers of Rajshahi University which holds undergraduate entry tests for B and E units today. However, whether any of the candidates died in the accident could not be known immediately.

Thirty-one of the bodies were handed over to their families, said Officer-in-Charge Fuad Ruhani of Bonpara Highway Police Station.

Barisal University student MS Jolly Seema, who was returning to her Gurudaspur home in the Othoi Paribahan bus, survived the accident.

She said both the buses were moving in high speed. The bus coming from Dhaka suddenly moved to the wrong side of the road and crashed into her bus.

With a hand broken, she was undergoing treatment at a local hospital in Bonpara, BBC Bangla reports.

Another survivor Shahinur Islam, who was going to Rajshahi on the Keya Paribahan bus to take the RU admission tests, described another factor that, if true, might have contributed to so many deaths in the accident.

"On impact, some passengers were thrown out the vehicles. Right then, a speeding bus coming from Natore direction rolled over the people, lying on the road," Shahinur, a resident of Kaliakoir in Manikganj's Singair, told The Daily Star while undergoing treatment at Bonpara's Amin Hospital.

Both the buses, carrying around 70 passengers, veered off the road on impact. The battered local bus plunged into the Chalan Beel and the Keya Paribahan bus into a ditch on the other side, according to witnesses.

Fire service personnel and police rushed to the spot, about 25 kilometres off Natore town, and pulled the buses out of the water with the help of locals. Many bodies were trapped inside the wreckage of the buses.

At least 37 injured were immediately taken to different hospitals and clinics in Rajshahi, Bogra and Natore. Conditions of some of them were critical.

A local named Mostafa said four of a family known to him were among the dead.

Traffic movement on the highway remained suspended for around an hour following the accident, causing tailbacks on both sides of the road that connects a number of northern districts, including Rajshahi city, to the capital.

A three-member committee headed by Additional District Magistrate Mohammad Ali of Natore has been formed to probe the incident and asked to submit its report in three days.

On July 11 in 2011, a truck crashed and flipped over into a roadside ditch in Chittagong, killing 42 children and two others.

As many as 1,261 people have died in road accidents so far this year with 159 casualties, including yesterday's victims, this month alone, according to The Daily Star reports. The actual number is likely to be much higher.

IDENTITY OF THE DEAD

Thirty-one of the victims have been identified. They are:

Labu, 30; Arifa, 45; Rahman, 55; Alal Sheikh, 55; Kohir, 35; Bablu, 45; Sohrab, 45; Quddus, 66; Rabbel, 55; Ebad Ali, 65; Aynal, 55; Rahamat, 50; Jamal, 40; Jofer Ali, 55; Rahman Moni, 25; Azadul Bari, 32; Sharif; Tofazzal; Kismat; Alam Sheikh; Jaan Mohammad; Atahar Ali; Krishnapada; Rezaul Karim; Hafizur Rahman; Haji Abul Khair; Sheba; Jamal Uddin; Jannatul Ferdousi; Shoilen Tilak; and Hanif Sheikh;

COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS

Meanwhile, the government announced a decision to bear treatment expenses of the injured and provide Tk 1 lakh compensation for each of the bereaved families.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader made the announcement while visiting the accident spot around 12:30 last night.

The decision was taken following the prime minister's directive, he said before setting off to meet the families of the dead from Sidhuli village.

PRESIDENT, PM,

BNP CHIEF MOURN

President Abdul Hamid expressed deep shock at the loss of lives in the road accident.

In a condolence message yesterday, he prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls, reports UNB.

In a separate message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her condolences to the bereaved families and directed the authorities concerned to ensure proper treatment of the injured.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, in a message, too expressed sympathy to the victims' families.