Seven Dhaka University (DU) students were injured after a private car hit them on campus on Tuesday morning.
Six of the injured are from the Department of Marketing and one from the Department of Linguistics. They were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where one student was reported to be in critical condition.
The accident occurred around 11am when Sadman Sakib, a student of the university’s Institute of Information Technology for the 2023-24 academic year, was driving the car. He is the son of Dr Md Shahidul Islam, a teacher at the Department of Mathematics.
According to witnesses, Sadman lost control of the car while learning to drive and hit the students. Some were riding in rickshaws, while others were standing near a gate adjacent to the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS) and Mall Chattar.
Following the accident, students detained Sadman and took him to the university proctor’s office.
Sadman said he had taken the car out despite having little driving experience. A driver was accompanying him.
“I drove around the Arts Building once and was approaching FBS when I became frightened after seeing a large crowd. While trying to brake, I mistakenly pressed the accelerator. The car began moving at high speed and hit several students in front of me. The driver later helped bring it under control,” he said.
Eyewitnesses also said angry students beat two people who were in the car and vandalized the vehicle after the accident.
Sadman’s father, Dr Mohammad Shahidul Islam, said he would accept whatever decision the university authorities made regarding the incident.
DU Proctor Associate Professor Dr Md Israfil Ratan said he had been informed of the accident and that arrangements had been made for the injured students’ treatment.
“Some students fell from rickshaws. Arrangements have been made for their treatment. We were fortunate that there was no major accident,” he said.