Twenty-five people, including five women and a child, died after the bus they were travelling by ploughed into a roadside tree in Bhanga upazila early yesterday.
The fatal accident, which took place at Purbasadaradi area on Dhaka-Barisal highway around 1:30am, claimed 19 lives on the scene while three succumbed to injuries at Bhanga Upazila Health Complex and another three at Faridpur Medical College Hospital.
Ten of the dead could be identified: Shafiqul Islam, supervisor of the bus who hailed from Gopalganj, Amena Begum, 50, of Patuakhali, her son Shahin, 27, daughter Amena Akhter, 15, Sohag, 32, Helal, 28, Rasel, 30, Shahana, 35, Rezaul Islam, 32, and Surja Begum, 40.
The accident also injured another 23 passengers of the bus of Sonartori Paribahan, 20 of whom were admitted to Faridpur Medical College Hospital. Of the 20, six were later sent to Dhaka for better treatment.
Md Hossain Sarder, officer-in-charge of Bhanga highway police station, said the Kuakata-bound bus which was travelling from Dhaka crashed into a big tree beside the road.
“The accident wrecked the bus while police and firefighters rushed to the scene,” he said.
Assistant Police Super of Faridpur, Belal Hossain, said the dead bodies were brought to the highway police station.
Deputy Director of Faridpur Fire Service, Khandaker Shamsuddoha, said passengers of the bus were sleeping and could not even try to save themselves.
The highway saw a two-hour traffic jam after the accident and the tailback eased when the bus was towed away.
Faridpur Deputy Commissioner Sardar Saraft Ali and Police Super Jamil Hasan visited the scene of the accident. Lawmaker of Faridpur 3 constituency, Mujibur Rahman Chowdhury, visited the injured at the upazila health complex.
The deputy commissioner said each of the families of the dead was given Tk10,000 while the local authorities would pay for the treatment of the injured.
Contradictory accounts
Even though official investigation into the cause of the accident was ordered, the injured passengers and the bus staff gave conflicting accounts of what led to the incident.
Driver of the bus, Jakir Hossain, and the helper, Mintu Khan, claimed that some armed robbers who boarded the vehicle disguised as passengers took control of it as soon as it reached Bhanga.
They both were admitted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital in Barisal.
Jakir said the bus left Gabtoli bus terminal after 8pm on Wednesday with 56 passengers on board.
“Some passengers held the driver at gunpoint and one of them tried to drive the bus but ended up hitting the tree,” said Mintu.
“The driver and I passed out after the accident. After regaining consciousness, we boarded a Barisal-bound transport and reached the hospital,” he added.
The on-duty doctor said their injuries were minor and they were out of danger.
But Police Super Jamil Hasan said he had talked to the injured passengers and they told him that reckless driving had caused the accident.
Shakhawat Hossain, Barisal Kotwali police station officer-in-charge, said the driver and the helper were not arrested as no case was lodged against them.
“But they are under watch,” he said.
Probe committees formed
The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry and the local authorities in Faridpur formed two separate probe committees after the accident.
The five-member committee of the ministry comprises police, fire service officials and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority officials. It is headed by the district additional magistrate.
A ministry statement said the committee was asked to submit its report within seven working days.
Faridpur district administration, on the other hand, formed another three-member probe committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdur Rashid.
The committee has been instructed to submit a report within two days, said Deputy Commissioner Sardar Saraft Ali.
