At least seven people were killed in two separate road accidents in Dhaka, Comilla, Joypurhat, Dinajpur, and Gopalganj on Thursday.
In Dhaka, two people were killed in a head-on collision between a car and a CNG-run autorickshaw in Uttara in the morning.
The deceased are autorickshaw driver Taibur Ali, 65, and autorickshaw passenger Ratul, 38.
The three-wheeler had collided with the car at the Singer intersection in Uttara Sector 13, said Uttara West police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shah Akhtaruzzaman.
Taibur and Ratul were rushed to the hospital, where the doctor on duty pronounced them dead.
Police had confiscated the car and detained its driver, said the OC.
The accident had taken place due to speeding, he added.
In Comilla, a man was killed and another was injured in an accident in Laksam upazila on the Comilla-Noakhali regional highway.
The deceased is Helal Uddin, 50, an employee of Petrobangla’s Begumganj branch.
Laksam highway police outpost In-Charge Maksud Ahmed said a Petrobangla pickup carrying Helal and others had fallen into a ditch following a tyre blowout, leaving the quinquagenarian dead on the spot.
Police had recovered Helal’s body and sent it to his home for burial, said the police officer.
Helal could not go home on Eid-ul-Fitr for work, said his relative Md Atikur Rahman, adding: “He died on his way home today after being granted a leave of absence yesterday (Wednesday).”
In Gopalganj, a cyclist was killed after being hit by a microbus.
The accident took place at Kadampur Bridge in Muksudpur upazila of Dhaka-Khulna highway around 8am on Thursday, Muksudpur police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abu Bakar Miah confirmed.
The deceased was identified as Humayun Sheikh, 38, of Daserhat village under Muksudpur upazila.
A Faridpur-bound microbus leaving from Gopalganj hit Humayun's bicycle from behind and fled. The cyclist then fell into a ditch on the side of the road. He died of his injuries on the spot.
In Joypurhat, a man was killed in a road accident on the Molamgarihat-Dupchanchia road in Madhupukur Bazar area under Khetlal upazila.
The deceased was identified as Abdus Samad, 50, a betel nut trader and son of late Fazir Uddin of Baman village in Kalai upazila of the district.
Khetlal police station OC Raushan Yazdani said that Samad was going to Dhaperhat Bazar in Dupchanchia Upazila of the district in a CNG. On the way, a cyclist was crossing the road in the area. While trying to save the cyclist, the CNG driver lost control over the steering and hit a tree, and overturned this afternoon, leaving Abdus Samad seriously injured.
Locals rescued him and rushed him to Joypurhat District Modern Hospital, the on-duty doctors declared him dead, the OC added.
In Dinajpur, 55-year-old Tepu Miah was killed after being run over by a truck from behind in Fulbari upazila.
Fulbari police station OC Ashraful Islam said the truck was seized but the driver and his assistant managed to flee the scene.
In another incident, 18-yar-old Selim Hossain died after hitting a tree while riding a motorcycle in Nobabganj upazila on Thursday afternoon, Nobabganj police station OC Ferdous Wahid confirmed.
Between January and December last year, at least 6,284 people were killed and 7,468 others were injured in road accidents across Bangladesh, and it continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the country.
Of them, at least 249 people were killed and 385 others were injured in 207 road crashes in the 12 days before, during and after last year’s Eid-ul-Fitr.
Our district correspondents contributed to this report
