Police file case over BRT girder tragedy

A police case has been filed in connection with the Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) girder tragedy that claimed the lives of five people, all of a family, on Monday.

The case for causing death due to negligence does not name anyone but lists the crane operator and the company responsible for the project, China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd, police said.

The case was filed with Uttara West Police Station on Monday night on a complaint from Afran Mondol, the brother of two of the deceased -- Fahima and Jhorna, according to police.

The crane operator and China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd have been listed in the case, said Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of the police station.

The deceased were identified as Rubel, 50, Fahima, 40, her sister Jhorna, 28, and Jhorna’s two children Jannat, 6, and Jakaria, 2, said Yeasin Gazi, inspector of Uttara west police station.

Two other occupants of the car could get out with serious injuries and were rushed to a local hospital, according to the police. They were identified as Hridoy, 26, and Riya Moni, 21, according to the police.

The accident occurred around 4:30 pm when the girder of the Gazipur-Airport Expressway fell on the car near Paradise Tower.

The tragedy occurred exactly a month after a worker was killed by a falling crane in the Gazipur part of the project.

Also, last year, six workers escaped with injuries after a part of a launching girder collapsed near them, close to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

The project, which is called the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line-3, will connect Gazipur directly with Dhaka airport.

The 20.5-kilometre elevated bus corridor that was taken a decade ago is being implemented by a Chinese contractor.