Road Crash in Gazipur
Death of worker sparks vandalism
Death of a garment worker in a road accident at Shalna in Gazipur yesterday sparked a violent protest from fellow workers, disrupting vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway for over two hours.
Meanwhile, traffic halted on the Dhaka-Mawa highway as well for around an hour after a state-run BRTC bus crushed an elderly man to death at Lauhaganj in Munshiganj yesterday morning.
The Gazipur victim was identified as Morsheda Begum, 55, worker of a garment factory owned by Prity Group. She was knocked down by a truck around 9:00am while crossing the road, witnesses said.
As the news spread, several hundred garment workers took to the streets and ran riot, damaging around 20 vehicles, mostly buses.
Several passengers were hit by pieces of broken glass as the agitating workers smashed windshields of vehicles.
Panicked, passengers in their dozens ran for life, locals said, adding that several hundred vehicles got stranded on both sides of the road causing sufferings to many.
Police said they brought the situation under control around 11:30am, assuring the agitators of building a speed bump in front of the factory.
Talking to The Daily Star over the phone, Sub-inspector Abul Kalam Azad of Joydevpur Police Station, however, said only two vehicles — one bus and a truck — were damaged.
The driver of the Mymensingh-bound truck fled the scene.
Meanwhile, Morsheda’s body was taken to her village home in Jamalpur for burial yesterday.
In Munshiganj, 70-year-old Aziz Bangi of Lauhaganj was crushed under the BRTC bus around 11:00am when he was crossing the road, police said.
Incensed, locals damaged at least five vehicles and blocked the road for around an hour.
Traffic resumed at about 12:00noon with police intervention.
Police said they confiscated the bus but the driver fled the spot.
-With The Daily Star input
