Workers have taken to the streets and blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway after a female garment worker was killed by a speeding truck while crossing the road in Gazipur.
The incident occurred around 8:30am Tuesday in the Hurricane area of Gazipur city.
Deputy Commissioner of the Traffic Division of Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Ashok Kumar Pal said that a female garment worker was run over and killed on the spot by a truck near the Hurricane bus stand in the Gacha area.
He added following the accident around 8:30am, fellow workers blocked the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway, causing heavy traffic congestion and commuter suffering.
"Police and army personnel later arrived at the scene and worked to bring the situation under control", he said.
The identity of the deceased woman has not been immediately revealed, but it is known that she worked at the Interloop BD factory in the Hurricane area.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Gacha Police Station Ali Mohammad Rashed said that in response to the road accident that claimed the life of a female garment worker, her co-workers blocked the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway from 8:30am to 10:30am.
He added that the incident occurred when the worker, employed at Interloop BD Ltd in the Hurricane area, was crossing the highway near Maleker Bari.
He said: "In protest, around 400–500 agitated workers and local residents gathered at the Hurricane intersection and blocked the highway for 2 hours."
During the demonstration, protestors compelled Interloop BD Ltd and 2-3 nearby factories to declare a day off.
At around 9:45am, the army, Gacha police and industrial police managed to disperse the protestors and clear the road, with traffic resuming by 10:40am.
However, the workers later blocked the highway again, demanding closure of the BRTA line.
Authorities intervened once more and restored normal traffic flow by 11am.
