UNB, Sylhet :
Two people were killed after a truck plunged into a canal from a bridge in Jaintiapur upazila of Sylhet early Sunday.
The deceased were identified as Ebadur Rahman, the driver of the truck, and Russel Ahmed, the driver’s assistant, both hailing from Jaintiapur.
Police said the accident occurred around 5:30am on Sylhet-Tamabil road at Damri Bridge.
The soil-laden truck fell into a canal from Damri Bridge, killing two people on the spot, said
Mohamamd Ibrahim, officer-in-charge of Jointapur Police Station.
On information, police and fire service members recovered the bodies with the help of locals around 7:30am.
Road accidents in Bangladesh is still one of the leading causes of deaths as 37,170 people were killed in 26,902 accidents across the country in the last five years, according to a report by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS) released on Oct 22.
According to the report, 8,642 people were killed and 21,855 injured in 6,581 road accidents in 2015 alone.
In 2016, some 6,055 people were killed and 15,914 injured in 4,312 road accidents.
Besides, at least 484 people were killed and 673 injured in 427 road accidents throughout the country in January this year.
Last month, the accident rates jumped by 25.58 percent and fatalities by 8.76 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Road Safety Foundation (RSF).
At least 445 lives were lost in 340 road accidents in January last year, according to RSF.
Last month, 168 people were killed in 159 motorcycle accidents – 37.23 percent of total road accidents.
And 53 drivers and helpers were killed during the same period – 10.95 percent of total fatalities.
