242 died in road crashes during Eid-ul-Adha

A total of 242 people died and 331 were injured in 201 different road accidents during the Eid-ul-Adha journeys across the country.

Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity – the passengers' welfare association – revealed the information at a press conference at the Sagar-Runi Auditorium in the Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Sunday.

The survey report was prepared by analysing the accidents that occurred between July 26 and August 7.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, read out the report while Kazi Saifun Newaz, assistant professor of the Accident Research Institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, also spoke there.

According to the association, the death toll during Eid-ul-Adha in 2019 was 224 while it was 259 in 2018, 254 in 2017 and 248 in 2016.

Mozammel  Haque said that of the total accidents, 32 percent were motorcycle related, 19 percent bus, 19 percent truck and pickup, 10 percent easy-bike, 8 percent auto-rickshaw, 8 percent car, micro-bus and jeep and 3 percent were nasiman-kariman (makeshift three-wheeler) accidents.

"Road accidents increased although only 20 percent of people travelled to village homes [from cities] compared to the number in previous years. The scenario is horrific this year," he said.

Stopping imports of small vehicles and ensuring training for drivers and BRTA's transparency are a must to decrease accidents, he added.

Kazi Saifun Newaz said many accidents are happening due to the faulty system on roads. The government must identify the problems and take initiatives to resolve these issues to reduce road accidents.