Our Correspondent, Barishal :
At least six people were killed and several others wounded in a collision between a bus and a microbus on the Barishal-Dhaka highway in Wazirpur upazila of Barishal on Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Nurul Akon, Ruhul Amin, Abdur Rahman, Md Hasan, Shahidul Islam and Harun. Officer-in-charge of Wazirpur Police Station Momin Uddin confirmed the death toll.
Police, quoting the injured persons, said the driver of the microbus lost control on the steering after one of its tyres got punctured, causing it to be stuck in the middle of the road.
He said, the bus, coming from the opposite direction, rammed into the smaller vehicle, leaving one of its passengers dead on the spot.
Another three microbus passengers were pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.
The severely injured were taken to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, where two more passengers of the microbus died while undergoing treatment.
The OC said the police had seized the bus of Molla Paribahan, but its driver and his assistant had managed to flee the area.
All the deceased are petty traders of Gazipur City Corporation. They left Gazipur for Kuakata after visiting the Padma Bridge.
OC of Gournadi Highway Police Station, Sheikh Md. Belal Hossain said that the bus of Molla Paribahan was heading to Dhaka from Patuakhali. On the way, the wheel of the microbus flattened in Natun Shikarpur area of Wazirpur Upazila of Barishal and the driver lost control before hitting the bus.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh witnessed 398 deaths on roads in 319 accidents in just 15 days during journeys before and after Eid-ul-Azha this year.
The accidents and deaths recorded on Bangladesh roads during Eid-ul-Azha were highest in the last 7 years, according to a report prepared by Jatri Kalyan Samiti, a passenger welfare organization.
