Staff Reporter :
Seven members of a family were killed when a microbus veered into a roadside canal in the early hours of Wednesday, allegedly due to the driver falling asleep at the wheel.
The tragic incident occurred around 5:40 am in the Chandraganj Purbo Bazar area of Begumganj upazila, Noakhali.
The victims were identified as Foyezjunnessa (80), Morshida Begum (55), Kabita Begum (24), Laboni Begum (30), Reshmi Akter (8), Lamia Akter (9), and Mim Akter (2). All were members of the same family and relatives of Oman expatriate Bahar Uddin, who had just returned home after three years abroad.
Survivor Bahar Uddin recounted the harrowing moments before the vehicle submerged. “The microbus didn’t sink immediately-it floated for a while.
I kept pleading with the driver to unlock the doors, but he didn’t. Instead, he quietly escaped through the window,” Bahar said, adding that a few passengers managed to break a window and escape, but the rest were unable to get out.
“If the doors had been unlocked, everyone could have survived,” he lamented.
Bahar’s father, Abdur Rahim, also present in the vehicle, said the driver had been visibly drowsy throughout the journey.
“We kept warning him to stop and rest. But he insisted he was fine,” he told the media. “He had several close calls where he would suddenly jolt awake. Even after reaching Chowmuhani, we urged him to take a break. But then, all of a sudden, he lost control and drove straight into the canal.”
The family had travelled from Lakshmipur to Dhaka to receive Bahar upon his return. The fatal accident occurred on their way back home.
In response to the incident, the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (Passenger Welfare Association) issued a strong statement criticising the current state of the country’s road transport sector. The organisation’s Secretary General, Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, stressed that without a complete overhaul of the sector, road fatalities would continue to rise.
Citing a review of recent road accidents, including the Noakhali tragedy, the statement noted that the failure to enforce the Road Transport Act 2018-primarily due to pressure from powerful transport syndicates-has left the roads increasingly unsafe.
Despite public demands for reform, the previous government failed to implement the law effectively, and the interim government is now under similar pressure, reportedly considering amendments that would weaken key safety provisions.
The statement alleged that while some transport “mafia” figures from the previous regime have gone underground, new groups have emerged to maintain control.
Exploiting lax enforcement, the country is now witnessing what the Samity described as a “festival of road accidents,” with over 50 reported incidents and 20 to 30 deaths daily, in addition to hundreds of injuries and disabilities.
Due to poor governance and legal inaction, victims and their families often receive no justice, compensation, or legal assistance-pushing many low- and middle-income households into economic hardship.
Chowdhury described the ongoing situation as “mass killings in the name of accidents,” exacerbated by a lack of accountability and transparency. He urged the interim government to take immediate action to reform the sector, restore public confidence, and ensure safety and justice on the roads.
