Special Correspondent :
Dense fog and cold spell paralysed the life in different parts of the country for the third consecutive day with massive disruption of air, water and road communications causing untold sufferings to thousands of people.
Large number of passengers had to wait at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday night as the flight schedule of domestic and international flights was changed for several hours due to poor visibility on the runway.
Officials said all flights were suspended for more than 8/9 hours since 1:30 am and it was fully resumed at 10:30 am on Friday. At least 23 flights on international and domestic routes were delayed due to dense fog.
“A Bangladesh Biman flight postponed its journey to Riyadh even after taxing due to sudden thick fog on the runway. Besides, two other flights from Jeddah and another middle east
country were forced to land at Netaji Suvash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata,” Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh spokesman Rezaul Karim, said.
Later, eight Dhaka bound flights were diverted to the Indian and Myanmar airports. Besides, at least 14 domestic flights of Biman, Novo Air, US-Bangla Airlines and Regent airways were cancelled due to same reason.
Meanwhile, the met office in its bulletin on Friday said the foggy situation would not be changed in next 24 hours. Moderate to thick fog may occur at places over the country during mid night till morning and it may continue upto noon, it said.
Officials said the ferry service was resumed after long 10 hours at Kathalbari riverine route. The authorities were forced to shut the service at 12:05 am and it was resumed at 10:00 am on Friday.
“Six ferries carrying around 300 vehicles got trapped in the mid of the Padma river. We shut down ferry operation to avoid accident. For that reason, several thousands of vehicles, including buses and trucks, got stuck on the both banks of Padma,” Ruhul Amin, Assistant Manger BIWTC [Kathalbari], said.
On the other hand, ferry services on Paturia of Manikganj and Doulatdia of Rajbari were suspended for about 12 hours due to thick fog. Thousands of people had to suffer a lot while nearly 1000 vehicles, including passenger buses, goods laden trucks and private cars, were stranded on both sides of the river.
Apart from flight and ferry disruption, the dense fog also caused severe problem on the highways across the country as it was hard for the drivers to see any object even a few inches ahead.
Media report said a huge pile-up was developed on the Bangabandhu Bridge after several buses rammed into a bus that had hit another from behind. The crash involving six long-haul buses was reported around 6:00 am on Friday, when at least eight people were injured
Officer-in-Charge of Bangabandhu Bridge [East] Police Station Md Asabur Rahman said four buses were damaged in a series accident after a bus had hit another. The traffic on the bridge remained halted for several hours due to the crash.
It is alleged that most of the vehicles do not use fog light despite instruction of traffic department. Rather they use bright lights which cause reflection in the eyes. And it was the main reason behind the series accident on the bridge, according to the police.
Dense fog and cold spell paralysed the life in different parts of the country for the third consecutive day with massive disruption of air, water and road communications causing untold sufferings to thousands of people.
Large number of passengers had to wait at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday night as the flight schedule of domestic and international flights was changed for several hours due to poor visibility on the runway.
Officials said all flights were suspended for more than 8/9 hours since 1:30 am and it was fully resumed at 10:30 am on Friday. At least 23 flights on international and domestic routes were delayed due to dense fog.
“A Bangladesh Biman flight postponed its journey to Riyadh even after taxing due to sudden thick fog on the runway. Besides, two other flights from Jeddah and another middle east
country were forced to land at Netaji Suvash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata,” Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh spokesman Rezaul Karim, said.
Later, eight Dhaka bound flights were diverted to the Indian and Myanmar airports. Besides, at least 14 domestic flights of Biman, Novo Air, US-Bangla Airlines and Regent airways were cancelled due to same reason.
Meanwhile, the met office in its bulletin on Friday said the foggy situation would not be changed in next 24 hours. Moderate to thick fog may occur at places over the country during mid night till morning and it may continue upto noon, it said.
Officials said the ferry service was resumed after long 10 hours at Kathalbari riverine route. The authorities were forced to shut the service at 12:05 am and it was resumed at 10:00 am on Friday.
“Six ferries carrying around 300 vehicles got trapped in the mid of the Padma river. We shut down ferry operation to avoid accident. For that reason, several thousands of vehicles, including buses and trucks, got stuck on the both banks of Padma,” Ruhul Amin, Assistant Manger BIWTC [Kathalbari], said.
On the other hand, ferry services on Paturia of Manikganj and Doulatdia of Rajbari were suspended for about 12 hours due to thick fog. Thousands of people had to suffer a lot while nearly 1000 vehicles, including passenger buses, goods laden trucks and private cars, were stranded on both sides of the river.
Apart from flight and ferry disruption, the dense fog also caused severe problem on the highways across the country as it was hard for the drivers to see any object even a few inches ahead.
Media report said a huge pile-up was developed on the Bangabandhu Bridge after several buses rammed into a bus that had hit another from behind. The crash involving six long-haul buses was reported around 6:00 am on Friday, when at least eight people were injured
Officer-in-Charge of Bangabandhu Bridge [East] Police Station Md Asabur Rahman said four buses were damaged in a series accident after a bus had hit another. The traffic on the bridge remained halted for several hours due to the crash.
It is alleged that most of the vehicles do not use fog light despite instruction of traffic department. Rather they use bright lights which cause reflection in the eyes. And it was the main reason behind the series accident on the bridge, according to the police.
