University student dies as bus hits motorcycle at Kuril
Hundreds of students blocked the airport road after a Northern University student died in a road accident at Kuril area in the capital on Sunday afternoon which brought traffic movement to a standstill for hours causing suffering to the commuters.
The deceased was identified as Nadia Akter, a first-year student of pharmacy department at Northern university. Her body was sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital for autopsy.
Nadia was a pillion rider of a motorcycle with a friend and was crushed under a Victor Paribahan bus in front of Jamuna Future Park on the Kuril-Bishwa Road area at around 1pm on Sunday, ABM Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Bhatara police station told The Business Standard.
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The police official also said that she was supposed to visit the Jamuna Future Park shopping mall.
"When they reached in front of the mall, a bus hit the bike from behind and she fell down on the road. The bus rammed her, killing her on the spot," Asaduzzaman added.
The bus was seized immediately although the bus driver and helper fled the scene. A case was filed under the Bangladesh Road Transport Act, 2018.
The vehicles were stuck in gridlock from the Airport area to Badda-Kuril as the students took to the streets at Kawla footover bridge area Sunday afternoon.
The vehicular movement came to a standstill for several hours and the commuters were found suffering as they walked to reach their destinations.
However, the police removed the protestors from the roads at around 7pm clearing it for vehicular movement.
The agitating students chanted slogans demanding safe roads. They took to the streets after the accident protesting other accidents that had taken place in the area earlier.
The year 2018 saw one of the biggest student protests "Bangladesh Road Safety Movement 2018" in demand for road safety.
From 29 July to 8 August 2018, a series of public protests in Bangladesh was held advocating improved road safety.
The student movement sparked after the death of two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College as a speeding Jabal-e-
Nur Paribahan bus ploughed into a bus stop on the airport road killing the two and injuring several others.
The incident impelled students to demand safer roads and stricter traffic laws, and the demonstrations rapidly spread throughout the country.
