7 killed in Mymensingh road accident

At least seven people were killed as a bus hit an oncoming CNG-run three-wheeler in Gachtala area under Tarakanda upazila of Mymensingh this afternoon.

Further details including identities of the victims could not be known immediately, said Abul Khair, officer-in-charge of Tarakanda Police Station.

A Netrokona-bound bus from Dhaka hit the Mymensingh-bound three-wheeler on Mymensingh-Netrokona highway around 1:30pm, leaving seven passengers of the three-wheeler including its driver dead on the spot, the OC said.

On information, fire fighters and police rushed to the spot and started rescue operations, the police official said.

The bodies of victims were taken to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

The accident took place when Road Safety Foundation (RSF), an organisation working to ensure safer roads, claimed to have recorded at least 439 deaths in 417 accidents throughout the country in December.

The RSF said 383 people were killed in 314 accidents in October last.

Besides, Nirapad Sarak Chai, a road safety advocacy group, in a report said that 5,227 people were killed in 4,702 road accidents in Bangladesh last year.

In a report released in February this year, the World Bank said Bangladesh needs to invest an estimated extra $7.8 billion over the next decade to halt its road crash fatalities.

The report said annual road crash deaths per capita in Bangladesh are twice the average rate for high- income countries and five times that of the best performing countries in the world.

It highlights that children and working age population are most affected by road crash injuries in Bangladesh.