459 people killed in 476 road accidents in April: Bangladesh Road Transport Authority

A total of 459 people were killed in 476 road accidents in April, said a report by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

During that time, a total of 705 people were injured in all the incidents, said the BRTA's monthly accident report published on Monday (8 May). 

BRTA reported 308 accidents in the country in February and 387 in March. Accordingly, the number of accidents in April has increased by 55% compared to February and 23% compared to March.

The government agency said that the number of casualties increased during the Eid season. According to the agency, 415 people were killed and 688 injured in accidents during the Eid season; the number of killed and injured increased by 11% and 2.5% respectively in April.

Compared to February, the number of fatalities increased by 51.48% and the number of injured by 69.47%, BRTA said.

According to BRTA report data, motorcycles were involved in the highest number of 194 accidents last month. Motorcycles have a 27% rate of accidents among vehicles. BRTA said that the maximum number of people killed in motorcycle accidents is 83.

Autorickshaws have the second highest number of 51 deaths in road accidents after motorcycles. 

However, the actual number of accidents and casualties is much higher, said Jatri Kalyan Samity Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury on Monday.

The organisation has sent a letter to BRTA Chairman Noor Mohammad Majumdar and requested him to provide April's daily accident data. 

Earlier, the Jatri Kalyan Samity published a report on Eid travels from 15-29 April. According to the organisation, a total of 328 people were killed and 565 injured in 304 road accidents in those 15 days. BRTA wrote to Jatri Kalyan Samity asking for details of the report, claiming the report was unrealistic. The letter claimed that Jatri Kalyan Samity's data overstated the number of accidents as well as casualties and sought to know the reason for this.

Jatri Kalyan Samity said that 40% of road accidents in Bangladesh do not come to the media.

As proof of this, the organisation said on the 13th day of this Eid, 1,040 seriously injured patients were admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR). At the same time, 355 people were injured in road accidents in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and 501 people were admitted in Chittagong Medical College and Hospital.

"The number of injured in the 15 days before and after Eid has been shown as 510 in the BRTA road accident report prepared. Anyone can question the veracity of this report," Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said.