Bus from wrong side rams microbus in Sylhet, 12 of the dead were from same family
At least 13 people, twelve of them from the same family, were killed and 30 others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a microbus at South Surma of Sylhet yesterday morning.
The accident occurred around 6:30 am in Tetli area on Dhaka-Sylhet highway when a Sylhet-bound bus, taking the wrong side of the road, rammed the microbus with 13 people, witnesses said.
All the dead were microbus passengers while the 30 injured were passengers of the bus, said A B Barua, commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
The microbus passengers were going to their village home in Lalpur of Biswanath upazila from Sylhet town, he said adding that twelve of the deceased belonged to the same family.
The dead are Waris Miah, 70, his wife Piara Begum, 60, their son Babul Miah 40, daughter Sufia Begum, 25, daughter-in-law Hajera Begum, 32, and son-in-law Abdul Karim, 32.
Waris’ grandsons Salman, 5, and Al-Amin, 2, granddaughter Fatema, 6, younger brother’s wife Razia Begum, 50, Piara’s brother Rafique Miah, 50, one of their relatives Jamal Ahmed 35, and the microbus driver Hiron Mia, 27, were among the dead.
Twelve of the victims died on the spot while a female passenger succumbed to her injuries after being admitted to Osmani Medical College Hospital, police said.
All the bodies were taken to the South Surma Police Station.
They were later handed over to the family members without autopsies following their request in the afternoon, said Md Nasiruddin, officer-in-charge of the police station.
The injured bus passengers took treatment at Osmani Medical College Hospital and other local clinics, he added.
The bus driver and its helper managed to flee.
Police Commissioner Barua said all the bus passengers were from Raipura upazila in Laxmipur district.
They were going to Sylhet to join the annual Urs (religious congregation) at Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) shrine.
Soon after the accident, locals put up barricades on the highway for around four hours and vandalised a number of buses.
A long queue of around 400 vehicles clogged the highway on both directions.
Vehicular movement resumed on the highway around 10:45 am after police and local administration intervened.
Khan Mohammad Bilal, deputy commissioner of Sylhet police, said Tk 10,000 would be distributed to each of the victims’ family members.
-With The Daily Star input
