Dhaka: Protesters blocked roads at the capital’s Shahbag area after a 14-year-old schoolgirl died in a road accident there on Saturday morning.

The victim girl, Sabiha Akther Sonali, a Class 9 student of Segun Bagicha Rahima Adarsha High School, was killed after being run over by a bus of route number 8 in front of the Matshya Bhaban at about 8:30am, police said. 

The victim’s body has been sent to the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Ramna zone police assistant commissioner Shibli Noman confirmed the incident.

Following the incident, angry students of the school blocked the road halting traffic movement for about an hour. Later vehicular movement resumed after police brought the situation under control.

Police said they captured the killer bus, but the driver managed to flee. However, a manhunt was reportedly launched to arrest the driver, and a case would be filed in this regard.

Sabiha was the daughter of one Zakir Hossain, resident of Pirojpur. She used to live at a Segunbagicha house in Dhaka with her family.

At least 8,642 people were killed and 21,855 others injured in road accidents across Bangladesh in 2015, revealed a report published by Bangladesh passengers’ Welfare Association on 10 January.

Fifty six per cent of the accidents took place on highways, while 23 per cent in urban areas and 21 per cent in rural areas, the report says.