Staff Reporter :
At least 19 people, including 15 in Jhalakathi, were killed and many others injured in tragic road crashes across the country on Wednesday.
In Jhalakathi, the death toll from multiple vehicle crash involving a truck, a private car and an auto-rickshaw in Jhalakathi rose to 15 as three others succumbed to their injuries at Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMC).
Police also detained the killer truck driver in this connection.
Afrujul Haque Tutul, Superintendent of Jhalakathi Police confirmed the matter to the media and said that among the deceased, four were women, three children and seven men. Meanwhile, Jhalakathi Deputy Commissioner Farah Gul Nijhum said a four-member investigation committee has been formed over the incident.
Earlier, 12 people were killed and several others injured after a truck ran through several vehicles, including an auto-rickshaw and a private car, before plunging into a roadside ditch near Gabkhan Bridge in Jhalakathi municipality area on Wednesday afternoon.
The injured were later taken to different hospitals in the area.
Earlier on Tuesday, at least 14 people, including four of a family, were killed and two others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a pick-up van on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Dignagar area of Kanaipur under Sadar upazila of Faridpur district.
In Naogaon, a husband and wife were killed in a head-on collision between two motorcycles in Naogaon. Two more people were injured in this incident.
The accident happened on Wednesday around 10:30 am at Yadali intersection. The deceased are Enamul Haque (40), son of Akram Hossain of Raikali village of Akkelpur upazila of Joypurhat district and his wife Barshti Akter (32).
In Savar, a man and his wife were killed when a truck ran over them at Kathgara in Ashulia of Savar on Tuesday. They were identified as Delwar Hossain, 40, and his wife Hashi Begum, 30. Both of them hailed from Singra upazila in Natore district.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Ashulia Police Station AFM Syed said the accident happened.
Last March, at least 565 people were killed and 1228 injured in 552 road accidents across the country. During this period, 203 people were killed and 166 injured in 181 motorcycle accidents. Which is 32.78 percent of the total accidents, 35.92 percent of the dead and 13.51 percent of the injured.
On March, the most road accidents were organized in Dhaka division with 162 road accidents in which 165 people were killed and 306 were injured.
7.78 percent of total accidents occurred in Dhaka city, 0.18 percent in Chittagong city and 0.72 percent in railway crossings.
Around 160 people were killed and hundreds over injured in various road crashes in 9 days during this Eid vacation.
Earlier in 2023, over 7,902 people were killed in 6,261 road accidents last year, said a report released by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS).
