Road crash on Dhaka-Sylhet highway claims 3 more lives; 14 killed in four days
Earlier, on 7 August, nine people were killed in a collision between two buses on the same highway.
Highlights:
- 9 killed in Osmaninagar bus collision on 7 August
- 2 killed in Madhabpur crash on 9 August
- 117 killed in 185 highway accidents in Sylhet from February to July
Three more people were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a pickup van on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj this morning (10 August), raising the death toll on the highway to 14 in three separate accidents over the past four days.
The accident occurred around 6:10am in the Barchar area, south of Rukunpur Bazar in the upazila, Sherpur Highway Police Station Sub-Inspector Mohammad Jasim Uddin confirmed.
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The deceased were identified as Maulana Mashhud Ahmad, 40, son of Sufi Mia of Karkhana village in Nabiganj; Moyna Mia, 42, son of Abdul Karim of the Inatganj Bazar area; and Kashem Mia, 50, son of Moyna Mia of Dakshin Gram in the Inatganj area.
SI Jasim Uddin said Mashhud died on the spot, while Moyna and Kashem died while undergoing treatment at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital in the afternoon.
Legal proceedings are underway, he added.
According to police and locals, a Sylhet-bound bus collided head-on with a Dhaka-bound pickup van. Mashhud, who was travelling in the pickup, died on the spot, while several others, including the pickup driver, were injured.
Locals rescued the critically injured Moyna and Kashem and took them to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, where they later died while undergoing treatment.
After being informed, Sherpur Highway Police went to the scene and removed the two vehicles, restoring normal traffic movement on the highway. The bus and pickup were later taken into police custody.
14 killed in four days
With the latest incident, 14 people have been killed in three separate accidents on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway over the past four days.
Earlier, nine people were killed in a collision between two buses in Osmaninagar on Friday morning (7 August), while two people died in a three-way collision in Madhabpur yesterday (9 August).
Accidents have become frequent on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, with the death toll rising in recent days. The highway has been undergoing repair work for a long time and is now in poor condition, with damaged stretches and large potholes at several points.
Continuous rain during the monsoon has further worsened the condition of the road, making travel difficult.
Reckless driving, dangerous overtaking and markets that have developed by occupying parts of the highway have also increased the risk of accidents.
Around 50 people have been killed in road accidents on the Sylhet section of the Dhaka-Sylhet highway over the past seven months, according to media reports.
Sherpur Highway Police data shows 117 people were killed and 109 seriously injured in 185 accidents on highways in Sylhet between February and July.
Sherpur Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Anisur Rahman said most serious accidents on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway occur due to speeding and dangerous overtaking by drivers.
He said drivers also become fatigued after long journeys and, at the same time, feel pressure to reach their destinations quickly. As a result, several stretches from Sherpur to Sylhet have become accident-prone, he added.
"Hopefully, accidents will decrease significantly once the six-lane expansion of the highway is completed," he said.
