In Dinajpur, two cousin-brothers were killed, and another person was injured after a tractor hit their motorcycle in Phulbari upazila’s Maheshpur.
The deceased were identified as Pritam Gupta, 25, an officer of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank’s Kurigram branch and his cousin Gupta Supriyo, 18.
A tractor carrying sugarcane hit their motorcycle from behind at 12:30am injuring the trio severely, locals said.
Later, one of them was declared dead at the Upazila Health Complex, and another died while being taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
Sultan Mahmud, in charge of Barapukuria police outpost, said the accident happened due to poor visibility caused by dense fog.
In Pabna, two more people were killed and three others injured as a truck collided head-on with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in the morning in Sujanagar upazila’s Dubolia.
The deceased were identified as Arifa Sultana, 45, and Jhantu Kundu, 60.
Shafiul Alam, in charge of Dublia police outpost, said a truck crashed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at 8am killing one person on the spot and injuring four others.
“Later, one of the injured was declared dead after being taken to the hospital. Police seized the truck, but the driver and his assistant managed to flee.”
Road accidents in Bangladesh
Road accidents in Bangladesh remain one of the leading causes of deaths in Bangladesh. In the last five years, 37,170 people were killed in 26,902 accidents across the country.
Also, 82,758 people got injured in these accidents, according to an October 2020 report of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.
According to the report, 8,642 people were killed and 21,855 injured in 6,581 road accidents in 2015 alone.
In 2016, some 6,055 people were killed and 15,914 injured in 4,312 road accidents.
Road safety is a global development challenge. Every year, 1.35 million people lose their lives while driving, cycling, or walking on the road, and another 50 million get seriously injured.
A recent World Bank study showed that for South Asia as a whole, a 50% reduction in road deaths would generate an estimated gross benefit of about $1.2 trillion.
