At least seven people, including a school student, were killed and five others injured in separate road accidents on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in Cumilla early Wednesday.
Police and local sources said two pedestrians were killed in the morning in Nimsar Bazar area after being run over by an unidentified vehicle. The deceased were identified as Zahirul Islam of Noakhali and Sohel Rana of Meherpur.
In another incident, two auto-rickshaw drivers were killed in the early hours in Sarkarpur area of Daudkandi upazila while returning home from a fair.
The victims were Barek, 42, son of the late Latu Mia, and Mostafa, 40, son of Md Nur Islam, both residents of Sarkarpur village.
According to Daudkandi Highway Police, six people, including the driver, were travelling in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw when the accident occurred. The vehicle was struck by an unidentified vehicle while attempting to cross the highway from the wrong side, leaving two dead on the spot and four others injured.
The injured-Nabi Hossain, 38, Kawsar, 40, Ismail, 37, and Sagar Mia, 35 -were admitted to different hospitals. One of them was later transferred to Dhaka in critical condition.
In a separate incident in Chandina upazila, a ninth-grade student was killed after being hit by a lorry while crossing the road in Kather Pol area after private tuition.
The deceased, Taim, 15, was a student of Chandina Bara Gobindapur High School.
Officer-in-Charge of Daudkandi Highway Police Station, Md Iqbal Bahar Mazumdar, said unidentified vehicles ran over the victims on the highway.
He added that the injured are receiving treatment, and the bodies of the deceased have been handed over to their relatives.
In Chauddagram upazila, two people were killed in separate highway accidents.
Officer-in-Charge of Miarbazar Highway Police, Sahab Uddin, said a 70-year-old woman, Hazera Begum, was struck and killed by an unidentified vehicle around 12:30pm near Chauddagram Bazar while crossing the road.
Hazera Begum was a resident of Ramchandrapur in Chauddagram municipality.
Earlier in the morning, a man, Omar Faruk, 39, from Noakhali district, died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle while repairing a truck in Padua area of the upazila.
Police have launched an investigation into both incidents and are working to identify the vehicles involved.
