Fifteen people were killed in two different road accidents in Rajshahi and Faridpur yesterday.
In the first accident, ten people were killed and four were injured when a passenger van collided with a bus a on the Rajshahi-Naogaon highway in Mohanpur upazila yesterday morning.
The accident occurred at around 7:00am when the van got its front-right tyre punctured. The vehicle, losing control, was hit by a Naogaon-bound bus, said Zakirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mohanpur Police Station.
Sumon, 38, Saiful Islam, 28, and Robin, 16, died on the spot, said witnesses.
Sumon and Saiful were passengers sitting in the front of the vehicle while Robin was driving the van even though he was actually the conductor.
Seven others succumbed to their injuries after they were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital.
They are Ajit Kumar Sarker, 45, Shamim Ahmed, 18, Jashim Uddin, 35, Mozammel Haque, 60, Shahidul Islam, 38, and Mozaffar Hossain, 35. The other deceased could not be identified.
The injured are Afzal Hossain, 30, Samrat, 30, Milon Ali, 25, and Sabir Molla, the actual driver who had taken a back seat because he said he was feeling sleepy.
The van was on its way to Rajshahi from Naogaon. Police later seized the vehicle.
Students of Rajshahi College left classes and blocked the road in front of the college from 10:30am, protesting the death of a fellow student Shamim Ahmed.
In the second accident, four women and a girl were killed on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Modhukhali upazila in Faridpur at 6:45pm yesterday.
The dead are Momtaz, 35, Anwara, 40, Aleya, 17, her mother Amiron, 30, and an unidentified girl of about seven.
The victims were returning to their village Porikhitpur after work at Altu Khan Jute Mills.
The accident occurred when the driver lost control over the steering and ran over the women, who were walking along the left side of the road, leaving them dead on the spot, said Abdur Rob, second officer of Modhukhali Police Station.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
