UNB, Manikganj :
A 28-year-old man was killed and 20 others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck on the busy Manikganj-Golra highway of Manikganj district on Tuesday, police said.
The deceased was identified as Sohag Gazi, a resident of Brakshandia village in Rajbari district. He was a passenger on the bus.
However, the identities of the injured could not be known immediately.
The accident occurred around 10.30am when the Paturiaghat-bound bus crashed into the truck coming from the opposite direction, said Mohammad Masud Khan, officer-in-charge of Manikganj Golra Highway Police Station.
“The impact of the crash was such that Gazi died on the spot. The injured are being treated at Manikganj District Hospital and Munnu General Hospital,” he said, adding that the two vehicles were seized.
Road accidents in Bangladesh
Road accidents in Bangladesh continue to claim hundreds of lives every year.
As many as 524 people, including 73 children, were killed and 821 others injured in 467 road accidents across the country in June.
Of these, 204 people died in bike accidents alone during this period, which is 38.93% of the total fatalities, Road Safety Foundation said in its latest report released on Monday.
Besides, 107 pedestrians, 86 drivers and their assistants were killed in the accidents.
The Road Safety Foundation prepared the report based on the reports of nine national dailies, seven online news portals and electronic media.
Of the total accidents, some 159 occurred on the national highways, 174 on regional roads, 72 on rural roads, 56 on city roads and six at other places, said the report.
According to the report, 25.05% of the accidents occurred in Dhaka division, 15.41% in Rajshahi, 16.48% in Chattogram, 14.34% in Khulna, 9% in Barishal, 2.78% in Sylhet, 10.49% in Rangpur and 6.42% in Mymensingh divisions.
The RSF attributed the accidents to several major reasons — faulty vehicles; reckless driving; desperate mentality, incompetence and illness of drivers; unsettled wages and working hours; and prevalence of low-speed traffic on highways to name a few.
The RSF urged the authorities concerned to address the issues and take necessary initiatives to fix those.
