DSCC garbage truck kills woman in Mugda

A woman was killed when a Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) garbage truck hit her in Mugda at around 10pm on Tuesday. 

The deceased was Nazma Begum (45).

The truck hit her in Titipara of the capital while she was crossing the road.   

The Officer-In-Charge (OC) of Mugda Police Station, Jamal Uddin Mir, said that after the accident Nazma Begum was rushed to Mugda Medical College Hospital with critical injuries where the on- duty doctors declared her dead.  

The DSCC garbage truck was seized after the accident and its driver Sohail Rana was arrested. 

Driver Sohail Rana had his city corporation identity card but he could not show his driving license, OC Jamal added. 

DSCC Public Relations Officer Abu Naser told The Business Standard that no city corporation garbage truck was involved in the accident, although locals are blaming the accident on a city corporation vehicle.  

Referring to the police, he claimed that after reviewing the CCTV footage, the police has informed them that no waste collection truck could be seen in the area under CCTV coverage.
"The arrested driver is an approved driver of the corporation who has a legal driving license. As a case has been filed, we will take action against him if the police find any proof against him after investigation," he said.  

However, Mugda thana police told TBS they were not contacted by anyone from the DSCC regarding the matter, and they were waiting for the CCTV footage.   

The actual number of deaths caused by garbage trucks is not properly documented in either of the city corporations of Dhaka.  

However, from news reports of the last five years, information of at least 18 deaths by city corporation garbage trucks has been found, of which at least eight deaths took place from January 2021 to January 2022.  

Naeem Hasan, a student of Notre Dame College, was killed being hit by a DSCC garbage vehicle early this year. The incident sparked citywide student protests demanding road safety.  

After that, Dhaka city corporations strictly enforced the law of not operating garbage trucks on city roads during the daytime and stopped allowing unlicensed drivers to operate the trucks.