13 killed in two road accidents

At least 13 people, including six members of a family, were killed and 10 others injured in road accidents in two districts yesterday.

In Manikganj, seven people died when a CNG-run auto-rickshaw collided with a bus in Mulkandi area of Daulatpur upazila.

Of them, six belong to the same family. They were passengers of the auto-rickshaw, said police.

The family is from Chashabhadra village in Tangail's Nagarpur. The village is situated in the bordering area of Manikganj and Tangail.

The family members were taking baby Radhe to a Manikganj hospital for treatment, said Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge of Daulatpur Police Station.

The accident took place around 2:30pm when the Daulatpur-bound bus hit the auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction, said Tania Sultana, assistant superintendent of police (Shibalay circle) of Manikganj.

One died on the spot and the others passed away on the way to a hospital, said the police officer.

The victims are: three-and-a-half-year-old Radhe, her father Gobinda, 30, mother Babita, 25, uncle Ram Prashad, 40, grandfather Hore Krishna, 67, grandmother Khukibala, 63, and auto-rickshaw driver Jamal, 30.

In another accident, six people were killed and 10 others wounded when a truck hit a parked bus in Mirzapur upazila yesterday morning.

The accident happened on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Kurni area around 7:00am, said Mozaffar Hossain, OC of Gorai Highway Police Station.

Driver of the Dhaka-bound bus from Rangpur parked the vehicle along the highway to repair one of its wheels.

At that time, most of the passengers got down from the bus and stood in front of the vehicle.

Suddenly, a vegetable-laden truck hit the bus from behind, crashing it into a roadside house. Four people died on the spot.

Locals rushed to the spot and took the injured to Kumudini Hospital, where two others died.

The injured truck driver was undergoing treatment at the hospital. However, the bus driver managed to flee, said Shawkat Hossain, traffic inspector in Mirzapur.

Police seized both the vehicles.

Meanwhile, vehicular movement on the Dhaka-bound lane of the highwaywas suspended for around an hour after the accident.

The deceased include  truck driver's helper Chunnu Mia, 32, and five bus passengers. Two of the passengers were identified as Ashraful Islam, 34, and Sirajul Islam, 31.

Of the injured, five were in critical condition, said police.

[Our correspondents in Manikganj and Tangail contributed to this report]