7 killed in road crash

Road crashes continue to claim lives as people return from their Eid holidays.

At least seven people were killed and seven others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a microbus in Kashiani upazila of Gopalganj yesterday.

In a separate accident, a schoolgirl was crushed under the wheels of a private car at Masterbari on the Dhaka-Mymensingh road around 3:30pm. Her identity could not be known, reports our Gazipur correspondent.

Quoting witnesses and the injured, our Faridpur correspondent reports that a bus heading for Gopalganj hit a rickshaw-van on the Dhaka-Khulna highway and tried to make a hit and run. The bus then collided with the microbus coming from the opposite direction near Bhatiapara intersection around 11:00am.

After the collision, the microbus crashed into a roadside tree while the bus fell into a ditch.

Police and locals rushed to the spot, rescued the injured and sent them to the local hospital.

All those killed were passengers of the microbus. Of them, Babu Sheikh, 45, died on the spot while six others, including three women, died after being taken to Kashiani Upazila Health Complex, said Abdullah Al Mamun, medical officer of the hospital.

The other deceased are identified as microbus driver Mohammad Hanif, 28, Tania, 30, Mehedi Begum, 40, Mizanur Rahman, 50, Brishti, 13, and Nasir Miah, 19.

The injured were taken to the local hospital and two of them, Rosy and Asif, were later shifted to Gopalganj General Hospital as their conditions deteriorated.

Microbus passenger Palash, who was undergoing treatment at the health complex, said the microbus had taken 14 passengers from Kalna Ghat and was heading towards Kawrakandi Ghat. When it reached Bhatiapara intersection, a bus hit their microbus.

On Friday, at least 17 people lost their lives on the roads in different districts, taking the death toll in road crashes across the country to over 100 in the last eight days.