Dawn had barely broken when a group of people gathered at Erulia’s “Kamlar Hat” in Bogura, hoping to find work and earn enough to put food on their families’ tables.
But seven of them never made it home.
On Friday morning, a bus lost control and ploughed into the labourers waiting at the roadside market. Three people died on the spot, while four others succumbed to their injuries in hospital.
The crash was among a series of road accidents in Bogura and Sylhet on Friday that left 18 people dead.
Bloodshed at the “dream market”
Erulia’s market, though located in Bogura, draws agricultural labourers from distant northern districts including Gaibandha, Rangpur and Dinajpur, who gather there early in the morning hoping to be hired for work.
Some were waiting for landowners to hire them for farm work. Others were already planning how to spend the Tk700 they expected to earn from a day’s labour.
Within moments, those hopes were shattered.
Landowner Nur Mohammad was also heading to the market on a motorcycle to hire workers. He had almost reached the area when a Dhaka-bound Shah Fateh Ali Paribahan bus travelling towards Naogaon hit his motorcycle.
Nur was thrown onto the road, while his motorcycle went under the bus. The bus then lost control and crashed into the labourers waiting at the market.
Three people died on the spot and four others later died in hospital.
The deceased were agricultural labourers Tajimul, Bellal Hossain, Abu Sayeed, Anarul, Amirul and Nur Alam, and landowner Nur Mohammad.
Seventeen others were injured and taken to hospital.
Ashraful Islam, a motor vehicle inspector at the Bogura BRTA, said the bus lost control after hitting the motorcycle.
“The motorcycle went under the bus after the collision, causing the bus to skid and leave the road. The driver tried to regain control but could not,” he said.
He suspected the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel in the early morning or that excessive speed may have contributed to the accident.
Bogura Sadar Police Station OC Ibrahim Hossain said the bus driver and his assistant fled the scene after the crash. “Police will collect CCTV footage from the area and examine other evidence before taking legal action,” he said.
The news of the accident brought relatives rushing to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, where the emergency department and morgue soon filled with cries and mourning.
Sanaul Pradhan, a relative of Sayeed and Amirul, said both men were impoverished day labourers. Sayeed’s six-member family depended entirely on his income. Amirul was landless and lived with his wife and children in a small house built on one decimal of land in his in-laws’ neighbourhood.
Dr ANM Monwarul Kadir Bitu, assistant personal physician to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, visited the injured at the hospital on Friday afternoon.
He said several patients had suffered serious head injuries, while others had fractures to their thighs, arms and jaws. “Everyone will receive the necessary treatment and surgery as required. The hospital authorities have been instructed not to show any negligence in their treatment,” he said.
He also said the district administration had formed an investigation committee to determine the cause of the accident and was taking steps to provide financial assistance to the victims and their families.
Couple killed in another Bogura crash
In another accident in Bogura in the afternoon, a motorcyclist and his wife were killed after a private car hit their motorcycle.
The deceased were Babul Hasan and his wife Jesmin Bibi of Atapara in Bogura. Babul was a gold trader.
The accident occurred on the Bogura-Naogaon regional highway near the Erulia airport, not far from the site of the morning crash.
Bogura Sadar Police Station OC Ibrahim Ali said Babul was travelling to Naogaon on his motorcycle carrying a packet of sweets. Their grandson was also with them.
A car travelling in the same direction lost control and hit the motorcycle.
Babul died on the spot. Jesmin and their grandson were taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared Jesmin dead.
Police seized the private car, but its driver remains at large.
Nine killed in Sylhet
Nine people were killed in a head-on collision between two passenger buses on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Osmaninagar, Sylhet, on Friday morning.
Seven died at the scene, one on the way to hospital and another while undergoing treatment. Fourteen others were injured, two of them in critical condition.
The accident occurred around 7:30am in the Kashikapan area.
By 5:30pm, police had identified six of the deceased: Saiful Islam of Goborina Lakshmipur village in Kuliarchar, Kishoreganj; Abul Hossain, son of Bari Mia, of Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria; singer Peheli Bhairabi, daughter of Bablu Mia of Chandiber village in Bhairab, Kishoreganj; Arman Hossain Rahim, son of Rafiqul Islam of Laksam, Cumilla; three-year-old Zaifa Islam, daughter of Jahangir Alam of Dhaka’s Bikrampur; and Saptam Roy Pritam, son of Uttam Roy of Sobhanighat in Sylhet city.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) is working to identify the remaining three victims using their fingerprints.
Police said a Dhaka-bound Unique Paribahan bus collided head-on with a Sylhet-bound Bengal Paribahan bus. The Unique Paribahan bus fell into a roadside ditch following the collision.
Police and fire service personnel, assisted by local residents, conducted the rescue operation.
Sherpur Highway Police Station OC Anisur Rahman said traffic on the highway was disrupted for some time after the crash but later returned to normal.
MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital Director Umar Rashed Munir said one of the injured was in the intensive care unit, while another had undergone surgery.
