Sylhet: At least 16 people were killed and many others injured in two separate road accidents in Sylhet and Bogura districts on Friday morning.
According to United News of Bangladesh, in Sylhet, a collision between two buses on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Osmaninagar upazila left nine people, including a child, dead. Three of the deceased were identified as Saiful Islam, 50, of Gobrina Lakshmipur village in Kuliarchar upazila of Kishoreganj, Zaifa Islam, 3, daughter of Jahangir Sheikh of Bikrampur in Dhaka, and Saptam Roy, 22, son of Uttam Roy of Sobhanighat in Sylhet city.
Inspector (Investigation) of Osmaninagar Police Station Joynal Abedin stated that a Dhaka-bound Unique Paribahan bus collided head-on with a Sylhet-bound Bengal Paribahan Ltd sleeper coach in the Kashikapan area around 7:00am. The impact caused the Unique Paribahan bus to fall into a roadside ditch, resulting in the immediate death of seven passengers. Several others sustained injuries in the accident.
The injured were promptly rescued and taken to various hospitals. Critically injured Zaifa was transported to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared her dead. Another injured passenger succumbed to injuries at the hospital. The police officer confirmed that all the deceased were passengers of the Unique Paribahan bus.
Members of Sherpur Highway Police, Osmaninagar Police Station, and Fire Service rushed to the scene and conducted a rescue operation. The bodies were recovered and sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy.
In Bogura, seven people were killed and at least 25 others injured after a bus ploughed into day labourers standing by the road in the Erulia Silkibandha area of Sadar upazila.
Four of the deceased were identified as Tajmul, 45, from Joypurhat, Belal from Fapore union of Bogura Sadar upazila, and Amirul and Nur Alam from Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha district. Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bogura Sadar Police Station Ibrahim Ali reported that the bus was traveling from Dhaka to Naogaon when it lost control and hit an electric pole by the Bogura-Naogaon highway around 5:30am, subsequently ramming into the day labourers waiting there for work.
The OC stated that the injured were rescued and taken to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, and the bodies were sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy. A large number of people gathered at the scene following the accident, resulting in severe traffic congestion.