7 killed in Bagerhat road accidents

At least seven people were killed in two separate road accidents on the Khulna-Mawa highway in Bagerhat on Friday, police said.

The first accident occurred early this morning in the Boiltoli area of the district’s Fakirhat upazila when a pickup van collided head-on with a battery-operated rickshaw. Both the vehicles were plying on the roads defying the Covid-induced lockdown restrictions.

While six occupants of the e-rickshaw, popularly known as easy bike, died on the spot in the impact of the crash, another severely injured passenger was rushed to a nearby hospital by cops and firefighters.

Five of the deceased have been identified so far -- Utpal Raha, 36, and Nayan Dutta, 28, both residents of Nalda village, Abdul Hai, 55, of Shatshi village, Goura Chandra Dey, 50, of Town Naoapara area, and Najrul Sheikh, 50, of Dakkhin Khanpur village of Sadar upazila. Police is trying to identify another deceased in the accident.

Officer-in-charge of Fakirhat police station Anam Khairul Anam said that all the victims were occupants of the easy bike.

“The severely injured passenger was first taken to the Upazila Health Complex and later shifted to Khulna Medical College and Hospital after his condition deteriorated,” he said.

Both the easy bike and pickup van have been seized. “We have also detained the driver of the pickup van,” the OC said, adding that a case would be filed soon.

Police also recovered the body of a man believed to be in his sixties in the Chader Hat area of Mollahat upazila this morning. Cops suspect he’s a victim of a hit-and-run accident.

Road accidents are common in Bangladesh and have been a major cause of deaths.

During the last Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush, road accidents claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, according to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Shamiti, a human rights body.

Besides, 513 people, including 63 children, were killed and 598 injured in 409 road accidents across the country in March, the Road Safety Foundation said on April 5.

According to the NGO, 147 lives were lost in 138 two-wheeler accidents, which is 28.65% of the total deaths.

In a report released in February 2020, the World Bank pointed out that Bangladesh needs to invest an estimated $7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities.

The report attributed the high death rate on Bangladesh’s roads to lack of investments in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes.