Chain collision on Dhaka-Mawa Expressway injures 5 after bus hits pedestrian and tries to flee

At least five people were injured in a chain collision involving five vehicles on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway in Munshiganj's Sirajdikhan upazila last night (31 October) after a passenger bus hit a pedestrian and attempted to flee the scene.

The accident occurred at around 8:45pm near the Kuchiamora Bridge.

Police and fire service personnel involved in the rescue operation told Prothom Alo that a Shohagh Paribahan bus was responsible for the collision.

Among the injured, a female pedestrian named Halima Begum, 61, who was hit first by the bus, was rescued in critical condition and sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital last night.

The identities of the other injured individuals were not immediately available.

According to Hasara Highway Police Station and Sreenagar fire service sources, the Shohagh Paribahan bus was speeding towards Dhaka. As it reached Sirajdikhan's Nimtala Bus Stand area, it struck a pedestrian.

The bus driver then rapidly accelerated to escape the scene. A short distance away, near the Kuchiamora Bridge, a number of vehicles were stuck in a traffic jam. The speeding bus then violently rear-ended the queue, smashing into three microbuses and a car, reports Prothom Alo.

The impact injured five to six passengers across the bus and the struck vehicles and caused a severe traffic jam spanning four to five kilometres on the expressway for about half an hour.

Mohammad Safiquil Islam, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, Munshiganj, confirmed Prothom Alo that a fire service team rushed to the site.

"A critically injured woman was rescued from the scene and sent to Dhaka. Other injured persons were rescued from the damaged vehicles and given first aid," he said.

Police and fire service teams worked jointly to clear the road, restoring normal traffic movement after approximately 30 minutes.