Death rules the roads
It seems death itself is ravaging through country’s highways like a marauding beast hunting down lives of the people who are rushing back to work after Eid holidays, as a total of 26 people were killed countrywide in road and railway accidents only on Thursday.
Despite repeated assurance from the concerned authorities that attempts will be made to keep roads safe during Eid vacations, deaths from accidents are increasing at a terrible rate every year.
Although dozens of reports of road accident casualties came every single day during the beginning and end of this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr vacation, Thursday experienced the highest number of deaths so far.
Among the 26 road accident victims of Thursday, 16 died in two districts, while the rests of the incidents were reported from another four districts of the country. In most of the accidents driver’s inefficiency and damaged roads were blamed. But when railway accidents are concerned, negligence, and in some case absence, of the signalmen at the crossing was mentioned.
8 people died in Tangail as a bus plunged into roadside ditch after what initial reports suggested that the driver ‘lost control’. The accident, which took place at a place called Patkhaguri in Basail, left 20 more people injured.
In Gazipur a Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (Demu) train crashed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Haydarabad level-crossing killing 8 people occupying the latter. It was understood that there was no signalman or bar at the level crossing, which the police described as ‘an unauthorised one’.
Similar accident claimed 2 more lives in Comilla’s Sadar South. The accident took place at Jailkahana Bari level crossing as a train slammed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. This time too the crossing was said to be ‘unmanned’.
Meanwhile 4 people were killed in Habiganj road accident. A bus plunged into a ditch in Brahmangaon area of Osmaninagar upazila. The accident occurred on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway on Thursday afternoon. The driver was said to have ‘lost control on the steering’.
Highway police in Brahmanbaria said that a head-on collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw killed 2 persons. The accident took place on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Islamabad area of Sarail on Thursday morning.
Lastly 2 motorcycle riders were killed being run over by a bus in Magura on Thursday afternoon. It was understood that the accident took place at Kachundi on the Dhaka-Faridpur Highway.