Staff Reporter :At least nine people were killed and 35 others injured when a bus fell into a roadside canal after breaking the railing of a bridge on Dhaka-Barisal highway at Samaddar in Madaripur Sadar upazila on Friday afternoon.The accident took place around 3pm when the bus driver lost control on the steering after hitting the bridge, said Sarwar Hossain, Superintendent of Police of Madaripur district.A Barisal-bound bus of ‘Subarna Paribahan’ (Dhaka Metro-Bha 02-0529) from Dhaka skidded off the road and fell into the ditch breaking the railing of a bridge, leaving at least five persons dead on the spot and 35 others injured.Later, four more succumbed to their injuries at Rajoir Upazila Health Complex and Madaripur Sadar Hospital, the SP added.Four of the deceased were identified as Hiralal Baroi, 60, an inhabitant of Narkulia village in Ujirpur Upazila of Barisal district, Ali Hossain, 50, of Natun Bazar of the same district, Sufia Begum, 50, of Parabunia village of Jhalakati district and Tipu Sultan, 40, a resident of Dhaka.Identities of other deceased could not be known immediately, reports our Madaripur correspondent.The injured persons were admitted to Rajoir Upazila Health Complex, Madaripur Sadar Hospital and Faridpur and Barisal Medical College Hospitals.Ziaul Morshed, the officer-in-charge of Madaripur Sadar police station, said, the driver lost control on the steering when the tyre of a front wheel got punctured and the bus skidded off the road and fell into the canal breaking the railing of the bridge. He local police and three units of Fire Service rushed to the spot for rescue operation.”Bodies of the deceased were recovered from the spot and sent to Madaripur Sadar Hospital for autopsy,” he added.
