Bus, auto-rickshaw collision in Ctg: 7, including 3 children, of same family die

Seven members of a family, including three children, were killed and two others sustained critical injuries in a deadly bus-CNG auto-rickshaw head-on collision in Hathazari upazila of Chattogram on Tuesday (7 November).

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defense, the deceased Rita Das, 40, her children – Borsha Das, 10, Dwip Das, 3 and Diganta Das, 3, – Srabonti Das, 18, Bipolb Dey, 27, and Bappa Das, 32, are from Chandaniash upazila of the district. However, the identity of the injured could not be confirmed.

The victims were going to attend a family programme at Fatikchhari upazila of the district in the morning in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw, said Mohammad Shahjahan, senior station officer of Hathazari Fire Station.

When they reached the Chariya area, the CNG auto-rickshaw tried to overtake a car. At that time, the black car pushed it from behind. A bus coming from Fatikchhari collided head-on with the auto-rickshaw, causing the fatalities, the fire service official added, quoting witnesses.

The auto-rickshaw was a mangled mess. A number of bodies strewn the road, while some were still inside the vehicle.

"We recovered the bodies of seven people, who died on the spot, and sent two injured to the hospital," Shahjahan said.

Adil Mahmud, officer-in-charge of Nazirhat Highway Police Station, said the driver of the bus fled the spot immediately after the accident.

"We have seized the bus and conducted drives to nab the driver", he said, adding that a case is under process in this connection.

Meanwhile, in another accident, at least four people were killed and 15 injured as a bus hit a pick-up van at Sadar upazila in Mymensingh early yesterday.

The identities of the victims could not be known immediately, Shah Kamal Akanda, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said.

The accident occurred when the Sherpur-bound bus of Faiyaz Enterprise from Dhaka hit a pick-up van on the Mymensingh-Dhaka highway in Shikarikanda area around 12:30am.

The accident left two passengers dead on the spot, said the OC.

On information, police and firefighters rescued the injured and took them to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where two more people died from their injuries.

Police seized the vehicles but the drivers managed to flee, added the officer