Four people, including three members of the same family, were killed and three others injured after a Padma Oil Company tanker truck hit a CNG-run autorickshaw in Sylhet’s Osmani Nagar upazila on Saturday.
The accident took place around 2:30pm in the Brahmangram area of the Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
The deceased were identified as Niamat Ali, 35, his 28-year-old wife, their 10-year-old daughter, all from Sreeramasi village in Jagannathpur, and auto-rickshaw driver Lalon Mia.
Police said the tanker, which was coming from the opposite direction, collided head-on with the CNG-run autorickshaw travelling from Sherpur towards Sylhet. The auto-rickshaw was badly damaged in the collision.
Locals rescued the driver and six passengers in critical condition and took them to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared four of them dead.
Salauddin Chowdhury, in-charge of the Osmani Medical College Hospital Police Investigation Centre, confirmed the deaths to Dhaka Tribune. He said four of the seven people taken to the hospital died, while the remaining three were receiving treatment.
Osmani Nagar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Morshedul Hasan Bhuiyan said seven people were taken to the hospital in critical condition following the accident. Four of them died and the remaining three were undergoing treatment.
Sherpur Highway Police Station OC Anisur Rahman said the Dhaka-bound Padma Oil Company tanker collided with the passenger auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction. Police rushed to the scene after receiving the report and took the casualties to the hospital.
Earlier on August 7, nine people were killed when two buses operated by Unique Paribahan and Bengal Paribahan collided in Osmani Nagar on the Sylhet-Dhaka highway. Saturday’s accident occurred in the same upazila.