26 killed in road accidents in 9 districts

Tragedy descended on a young girl on the roads of the country even before she was born.

In Mymensingh, three of a family were killed after a truck ran over them in the Court Building area on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Trishal around 3:00pm on Saturday.

The deceased are Jahangir Alam, 42, his pregnant wife Ratna Begum, 32, and their six-year-old daughter Sanjida.

Trishal Police Station Officer-in-Charge Main Uddin said, "Deceased Ratna Begum was seven months pregnant. They came to a diagnostic centre in Trishal to have her ultrasonography done. A Mymensingh bound truck hit them while they were crossing the road, leaving them dead on the spot."

Meanwhile, Ratna's baby was born soon after the accident. She was admitted to the Community Based Medical College, Bangladesh Hospital.

The hospital's medical officer Arif Al Nur said, "The baby is doing well. Two fractures were found in the right arm of the infant."

The three deaths were among the 26 people killed, among several others, injured in separate road accidents in nine districts on Saturday, according to police.

Of them, seven were killed in Tangail, four in Bogura, three each in Mymensingh, Habiganj and Sirajganj, two each in Brahmanbaria and Gazipur, and one in Dhaka and Nilphamari.

At least 10 people were injured in the accidents at Pakulla and Dulya Mansur areas of the Dhaka-Tangail highway.

A mother, her son and her daughter were killed by a bus in the Pakulla bus stand area of the Dhaka-Tangail highway on Saturday afternoon. Protesting the accident, locals blocked the highway.

The deceased are Parveen Akhtar, 27, her daughter Sadia, 9, and son Suman, 7, all residents of Mirzapur Banshtoilo area.

According to police and locals, a Tangail-bound bus from Dhaka hit them while they were crossing the road.

The girl was killed on the spot while Parveen and Suman were seriously injured. They were rushed to the Tangail General Hospital where the duty doctor declared them dead.

Lutfar Rahman, resident medical officer of the hospital, said two victims of the Pakulla road accident were brought to the hospital, but they died before reaching.

Earlier, four people were killed in a collision between a passenger bus, a microbus and a sand-laden truck, which was parked in the Dulya Mansur area of the Dhaka-Tangail highway of the same upazila.

At least 10 people were injured in this accident. After the accident, traffic on the highway towards Dhaka was at a standstill.

Later, with the help of a police wrecker, the bus involved in the accident was removed and the traffic flow was resumed.

In this regard, Molla Tutul, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, said a sand-laden truck, which was parked in the Dulya Mansur area, was hit from behind by a bus carrying passengers. Three passengers of the bus died instantly. The injured were rescued and admitted to Kumudini Hospital.

One of them died around 10:30 am while undergoing treatment.

"The impact left three passengers dead on the spot and 16 others injured. The injured were rushed to a local hospital where one of them was declared dead on arrival," the OC said.

In Habiganj, three people were killed and two others injured as a bus hit a CNG-run auto rickshaw at Nabiganj on Dhaka-Sylhet highway around 5pm Saturday.

The deceased are Bokul Begum, 62, Yahia Chowdhury Jabed, 24, and auto rickshaw driver Robban Mia, 40.

In Bogura, four people, including a father and his son, were killed and another injured when a truck hit a private car at Kalia Pukur in Kahalu upazila Saturday morning.

The deceased were identified as Tanser Ali, 60, his son Tagar Ali, 35, Abdur Rahman, 35, and Sumon, 30, a private car driver.

Ambar Hossain, OC of Kahalu police station, said the accident occurred around 8am when the Naogaon-bound truck from Bogura hit the private car at Dargahat, leaving three people dead on the spot and two others injured.

The injured were taken to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, where doctors declared Abdur Rahman dead on arrival.

In Dhaka, a young man, identified as Ibrahim Biswas, 24, who was going to Karwan Bazar, died after a bus hit his rickshaw at the Panthapath intersection early Saturday morning.

The accident occurred around 3:45am, said Md Shahabuddin, sub-inspector at Shahbagh police station.

"Ibrahim used to look after the hotel business of his maternal uncle Kabir Hossain, in the Najira Bazar area of Dhaka.

"He met with the tragedy while he was on his way to buy vegetables," the officer added.

In Sirajganj, three people were killed and 10 others injured after a bus hit a parked truck in Khalkula Bazaar area on Hatikumrul-Banpara road in Tarash upazila on Saturday afternoon.

The identity of the deceased could not be known immediately.

Hatikumrul highway police outpost OC Lutfor Rahman said the accident occurred around 1:45pm when a Dhaka-bound bus went into the wrong lane and rammed into a parked truck.

The official said that the number of deaths may increase.

Elsewhere in Brahmanbaria, two were killed and four others injured in a collision between an auto rickshaw and a private car in Ujanisar area on Cumilla-Sylhet highway around 10:30am Saturday.

The deceased are auto rickshaw driver Chan Mia, 50, of Majlishpur union and auto rickshaw passenger Billal Hossain, 45, of Kosba upazila.

In Gazipur, two people were killed in two separate accidents in Basugaon and Sukundi bridge area of Pubail upazila.

In Nilpharami, a van puller was killed when a speeding truck knocked him down on Tengonmari-Mirganj road around 10:30am Saturday.

The deceased is Ajijul Haque, 45.

Joldhaka police station Sub Inspector Nurul Haque confirmed the death.