5 dead as bus collides with pickup van in Cox's Bazar

Five people died and eight were injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a pickup van at Aziznagar in Cox's Bazar's Chakaria on Saturday (4 March) morning.

The incident happened around 8:30am when the Cox's Bazar-bound BGB bus hit the pickup van coming from the opposite direction at Kalatali Jilani pond area of Harbang union on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway, said Emon Chowdhury, inspector of Chiringa Highway police station.

The deceased were identified as Najrul Islam, 34; Md Hamid, 29; Jahangir Alam, 30; Nargis Akter, 13; and Md Russel, 30. They were passengers of the pickup van.

"Nazrul and Hamid died on the spot. The other three died while being taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital," said the inspector.

The bus and the pickup van are in police custody, he added.

Witness Mohammad Osman Gani said the accident happened when the pickup van was trying to overtake a motorcycle.