Bangladesh has witnessed a 29% rise in accidents on roads, waterways and railways across Bangladesh within a year, according to a report by Nirapad Sarak Chai (NISCHA).
A total of 7,024 accidents have occurred on roads, waterways and railways across Bangladesh in 2022. In 2021, the number was 4,983.
Ilias Kanchan, chairman of NISCHA, presented the data at a press conference at the National Press Club's Maulana Akram Khan Hall on Wednesday.
He said, the report was prepared on the basis of 11 national dailies, electronic media, online media, reports of concerned organizations and unpublished incidents.
Ilias Kanchan said: “From January to December of 2022, 5,070 road accidents occurred across the country. Some 77 accidents took place in the waterway and 256 occurred on railways. A total of 1,621 deaths (approximately 30%) occurred after hospital discharges according to unpublished data.”
A total of 8,104 people were killed and 9,783 injured in accidents in the last one year, he said, among these accidents, 5,760 people died on the road and 7,331 people were injured.
Some 270 people died on the railway while 51 were injured. On waterways, there were 204 deaths reported and 144 people were injured. As many as 186 people went missing on the sea route.
Ilias Kanchan also mentioned that 5,242 men and 992 women were killed in road, sea and railway accidents.
In addition, 2,188 drivers and assistants of drivers were killed.
According to NISCHA, the accidents were caused by poor management and oversight, failure to execute 111 task force recommendations, competition between drivers and reckless driving, daily contract driving, hiring unlicensed drivers, dangerous motorcyclist driving, and the use of non-standard helmets.