9 died in separate road, rail incidents across BD
Staff Reporter :
At least nine people were killed in separate incidents in Mawa, Munshiganj and Mymensingh on Thursday in what officials describe as a grim reminder of the country’s growing road and rail safety concerns.
In one of the deadliest road accidents this week, five people including five members of the same family were killed when a bus rammed into a stationary ambulance on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway in Munshiganj’s Sirajdikhan upazila. The tragic crash, which also left six others injured, occurred around 12:30am in the Neemtala area, police and hospital authorities confirmed.
The deceased were identified as Abdus Samad Fakir, his son Billal Fakir, and daughter Afsana all residents of Mithapukur in Madaripur Sadar Upazila-as well as the ambulance driver and another unidentified victim. The family was en route to a private hospital in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi to seek maternity care for Billal’s pregnant wife, Rozina Begum, whose due date was later this month. When a tyre on the ambulance burst, the driver pulled over to make repairs. As some passengers waited inside and others stood nearby, a speeding Golden Line Paribahan bus from Kushtia slammed into the parked vehicle, killing one on the spot and critically injuring several others. Four more succumbed to injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), according to police sources.
The Highway Police have seized both vehicles, though the bus driver fled and has yet to be detained.
In a separate incident on Thursday morning, a man was killed after being run over by a train in Mymensingh city’s Patgudam area. The victim, Md Idris Ali, 57, originally from Trishal upazila, had been living at his sister’s house and working as a rickshaw puller. Local authorities said he had been suffering from mental distress following a stroke. According to witnesses, Idris reportedly placed his head on the tracks just as a Jamalpur-bound commuter train from Dhaka approached, dying instantly.
Police have sent his body to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for post-mortem and said legal procedures are ongoing.
These back-to-back tragedies underscore the urgent need for stricter enforcement of traffic laws and mental health support systems to prevent such avoidable losses in the future.
