‘I went to attend the Friday prayers. While I was walking to the mosque, I suddenly saw a Rajib Paribahan bus coming at high speed and crashing into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw, crushing it. Hearing the loud sound of the accident, I ran to the scene and saw that five people had died instantly. Local people pulled a child and a woman out alive from inside the CNG-run auto-rickshaw, but they also died shortly afterwards.’ These were the words of Farhad Hossain, a resident of the Gandrapa area of Akuya Bypass Road in Mymensingh city. Seven people, including a child, were killed in a collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in the area at around 1:30 pm on Friday.
Farhad Hossain said, ‘Rajib Paribahan buses have caused road accidents several times before on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. We do not know whether any legal action has been taken against these buses or their drivers. Besides, the accident site is mostly quiet and open. Taking advantage of this, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, along with other vehicles, travel at high speeds. As a result, the risk of accidents is increasing constantly. The police need to take legal action.’
Azizul Islam, another resident of the same area, said, ‘I was also going to the mosque for Jumma prayers. At that time, I saw the collision between the bus and the CNG-run auto-rickshaw and rushed to the spot. Local people pushed the bus backward to move it away from the auto-rickshaw. Meanwhile, the police and Fire Service were informed. Later, with the assistance of local residents, Fire Service personnel recovered the bodies from inside the vehicle.’
According to police and local sources, the Rajib Paribahan bus had departed from Dhaka and was heading towards Jamalpur. At around 1:30 pm, when it reached the Gandrapa area of Akuya Bypass Road, it collided head-on with a passenger-carrying CNG-run auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction. The auto-rickshaw was crushed in the collision, and all seven passengers died at the scene.
Four members of the same family were among the deceased. They were identified as Mofazzal Hossain Lebu (50), a mason from Dari Hamidpur village in Nandina area of Jamalpur Sadar Upazila; his mother Rashida Begum (70); his daughter Marjina (25); and Marjina’s son Minal (5). They were on their way to their workplace in Gazipur when the accident occurred. The identities of the other three deceased have not yet been established by the police.
Meanwhile, traffic movement on Akuya Bypass Road was disrupted following the accident. Police restored normal traffic movement on the road after about an hour.
Mymensingh Sadar Fire Service Station officer Md. Julhas Uddin said, ‘After receiving the information, we arrived at the scene and recovered the bodies of seven people, including a child. The bodies were later sent to the morgue of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.’
Mohammad Shibirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mymensingh Kotwali Model Police Station, said, ‘The driver and his assistant left the scene with the bus shortly after the accident. Later, police seized the bus. However, the driver and his assistant could not be found. Efforts are underway to arrest them.’ He said, ‘It is initially believed that the collision occurred because both vehicles were traveling at excessive speed and neither could give way to the other.’
Md. Anisur Rahman, Assistant Director of the Mymensingh office of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, said more than 150 road accidents occurred in the district from January to September this year. At least 143 people were killed and around 200 injured in those accidents, he said.