Road accidents surge as Eid holidaymakers rush to leave capital

The country saw a number of fatal road accidents on Thursday as hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers started to leave the capital city for various destinations ahead of Eid.

At least 13 people, including three of a family, were killed and dozens injured in separate road accidents that took place in Dinajpur, Munshiganj, Natore, Gopalganj, Sylhet, Madaripur and some other areas throughout Thursday.

In Munshiganj, four people were killed when a Shariatpur-bound Padma Travels bus collided with a broken-down truck from behind on the Dhaka-Bhanga expressway in Sreenagar upazila around 8:45 am Thursday.

Three of the deceased were identified as — Hajera Begum, 50, Saiful Islam, 30, and Arif, 23. 

Molla Zakir Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Mawa Highway Police, said two people died on the spot and two more died while undergoing treatment at Sreenagar Upazila Health Complex.

Eighteen others have been injured in the Munshiganj accident and initially sent to Sreenagar Health Complex, said District Police Superintendent of Police Mahfuz Al Mamun.

Dr Farhana, a doctor on duty at the Upazila Health Complex, said all the injured were brought to the health complex. Later four of them were sent to Dhaka hospitals as their condition deteriorated.

Mohammad Shamim boarded the Padma Paribahan bus from Dhaka to go to his Shariatpur home to celebrate Eid with family members. He was injured in the accident and is now undergoing treatment at Sreenagar Upazila Health Complex in Munshiganj. 

Shamim told The Business Standard (TBS), "From the start, our bus driver was driving the vehicle recklessly. I remember the driver hitting the rear end of a stationary truck in the Sholghar area, before losing consciousness. I gained consciousness in the hospital."

In Dinajpur, three members of a family were killed and two others injured when a bus hit a three-wheeler carrying four people while overtaking a bus at Uchitpur in Chirirbandar upazila of the district on Thursday.

The deceased were identified as Uttam, 35, son of Shankar, Uttam's wife Pallabi, 32 and their nine–year–old son Arnab of Parbatipur upazila and Mahanta, 8, son of Palash Mahanta of Mirzapur in Nawabganj upazila.

Asaduzzaman Asad, officer-in-charge of Chirirbandar Police Station, said the accident occurred around 11 am when the bus rammed into the three-wheeler while overtaking a bus, leaving two children dead on the spot and four others injured.

Of the injured, Uttam and his wife Pallabi died on the way to a hospital while the two others were taken to a local hospital.

Vehicular movement on Dinajpur-Gobindaganj regional highway remained suspended for two hours following the accident.

In Sylhet, an adolescent boy was killed and two others were injured in a road accident involving a truck and a motorbike in Sylhet's Jalalabad area on Thursday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Rajib,14, son of Shamsul Hoque of Tukerbazar in the city.

Md Khaled Mamun, inspector (investigation) of Jalalabad police station, said the accident occurred around noon when the speeding truck rammed into the bike driven by Muhibur on Kumargaon road, leaving the trio critically injured.

They were rushed to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital where physicians declared Rajib dead, he said, adding the rest were being treated.

In Natore, Imon Hossain, 19, a student of Sadhanpur Pangu Niketon College, was killed when a motorbike carrying him plunged into a roadside ditch after hitting an electric pole at Jagadishpur area in Naldanga upazila around 12 am.

In Gopalganj, a motorcyclist was killed in a road accident on the Kamalapur-Chandhat road area in Muksudpur upazila around 2:30 pm on Thursday, reports BSS.

The deceased, identified as Tuhin Miah,35, son of Farid Miah, resident of Kamalapur village of the upazila, was an outsourcing worker in Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco).

Three other motorcyclists were killed in separate road accidents in Savar Baipail, Jahangirnagar University area and Madaripur Shibchar area. 

Accidents on the rise

Road accidents usually surge during the Eid holidays as more people travel across the country. 

According to the National Emergency Service (NES) 999, around 39 road accidents took place on Wednesday, the first day of the Eid holidays. Of the 39, ten motorcycle accident incidents were reported across the country by the NES of Bangladesh Police.

But, from 12 am to 3:30 pm on Thursday, the NES reported a total of 57 road accidents across the country. Six of these accidents occurred in Munshiganj and Madaripur on the Dhaka-Bhanga expressway.

When asked, Md Shamsul Alam, additional deputy inspector general of Highway Police, told TBS, "The number of road accidents is lower and less fatal this year. There were no big accidents on highways on the last two days other than the ones in Faridpur and Munshiganj." 

The police official also pointed finger at over-speeding by drivers for most of the accidents during Eid.

Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, told TBS, "We are keeping an eye on casualties on the road and will announce the figure after Eid. We hope that the number of accidents will come down this year.

"We will urge policemen and other authorities to make the journey safer and the road safe," he added.