16 killed in separate road crashes in Sylhet, Bogura

Image- Collected

At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured in two separate road accidents in Sylhet and Bogura on Friday morning.

In Sylhet, nine people, including a child, lost their lives after two buses collided head-on on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in the Kashikapan area of Osmaninagar upazila around 7:00am.

Police identified three of the victims as Saiful Islam, 50, of Kishoreganj, three-year-old Zaifa Islam of Dhaka's Bikrampur, and Saptam Roy, 22, of Sylhet city.

According to Osmaninagar Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Joynal Abedin, a Dhaka-bound Unique Paribahan bus crashed into a Sylhet-bound Bengal Paribahan sleeper coach. The impact sent the Unique Paribahan bus into a roadside ditch, killing seven passengers on the spot.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Zaifa Islam later died at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, while another passenger succumbed to injuries during treatment. All nine victims were passengers of the Unique Paribahan bus.

Police, highway police and Fire Service personnel conducted rescue operations before sending the bodies to the hospital morgue for autopsy.

In Bogura, seven people were killed and at least 25 others injured after a bus struck a group of day labourers waiting for work in the Erulia Silkibandha area of Sadar upazila around 5:30am.

Police said the Dhaka-to-Naogaon bus lost control, hit an electric pole and then ploughed into the labourers standing beside the Bogura-Naogaon highway.

Four of the deceased were identified as Tajmul, 45, of Joypurhat, Belal of Bogura Sadar, and Amirul and Nur Alam of Gaibandha's Gobindaganj.

The injured were taken to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, while the bodies were sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy. The accidents also triggered heavy traffic congestion as large crowds gathered at the scene.