7 of a family killed in bus-microbus collision
Eight people, including seven of a family, were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a microbus at Dulahazara of Cox’s Bazar yesterday, two days after a similar accident claimed 12 lives, including nine of a family, in Keraniganj near Dhaka.
The bus heading towards Cox’s Bazar collided head on with the microbus heading for Feni on Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong highway during a downpour around 8:30am, a correspondent reports from Cox’s Bazar quoting Assistant Superintendent of Police Md Khalequzzaman.
Eight people died and three were injured.
The deceased were: Sheikh Iftiza Hossain, 60, of Tekpara in Cox’s Bazar municipality, his wife Hosne Ara, 45, their daughters Sabrina Sultan, 21, and Aabha, 8, Iftiza’s brothers Murtoza Hossain, 65, Shefayetul Alam, 50, Shahin Alam, 38, and microbus driver Md Shahjahan.
Hosne Ara and the driver died on the spot while the others succumbed to their injuries at Dulahazara Christian Memorial Hospital, Khalequzzaman said.
Iftiza’s sisters Irine Akhter, 36, Mobaroka Begum, 56, and Shahin Alam’s wife Masuma Afrin, 32, were admitted to the hospital with severe injuries and later moved to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Locals said Iftiza with eight other family members had left for Feni on the rental microbus around 6:00am to attend a wedding.
Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Farhad of Chakaria Police Station said the curve had no signs to warn drivers.
He also said the bus was at speed and its driver and his helper fled the scene after the accident.
Injured Masuma Afrin at Dulahazara Christian Memorial Hospital told reporters that it was raining when the accident happened. She said their microbus was taking the turn when the bus hit it. She could not say what happened afterwards.
She said before they hired the vehicle she had repeatedly asked her family not to use a microbus out of fear as nine of a family died just two days ago in Keraniganj.
On Wednesday, a rashly driven bus took the lives of 12 people including nine of a family at Keraniganj, their two house helps, and their driver when they were going to their village home to spend the summer vacation.
The bus, while trying to overtake a truck, hit the microbus carrying the family head on and tossed it into a ditch on Dhaka-Mawa highway at Kadampur on the outskirts of the capital.
With The Daily Star input
