Four people, including a private car driver, were killed and another was seriously injured when a bus collided with a private car on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in Gazaria upazila of Munshiganj on Saturday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Sabiha Akter, 62, Liton Mia, 70, Mojibur Rahman, 55, and Mosammat Shamima Akter, 45.
The accident occurred around 3:30pm at the Tetaitala Hans Point area on the Cumilla-bound lane of the highway.
Police and locals said a bus of New Baleshwar Paribahan was travelling from Barishal towards Chattogram.
At the time, the private car was making a U-turn from the Cumilla-bound lane towards the Dhaka-bound lane when it collided with the bus, killing the driver on the spot and leaving four passengers seriously injured.
Police and locals rescued the injured and took them to Hamdard General Hospital. Doctors there declared three of them dead on arrival. The remaining injured passenger was referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.
Sajal Chandra Sarker, an emergency department doctor at Hamdard General Hospital, said the three victims had died before they were brought to the hospital.
Sabiha’s identity was confirmed through the national identity card found in her bag. All four were reportedly residents of the Jigatala area of Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
Mariam, a bus passenger who sustained minor injuries, alleged that the bus driver appeared inexperienced and that passengers had been concerned about his driving.
Firefighters from the Gazaria Fire Service and personnel from the highway police station rushed to the scene after the accident. They recovered the private car driver’s body and rescued passengers trapped inside the wreckage before taking them to hospital.
Mohammad Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Bhoberchar Highway Police Station, said the bus was travelling towards Chattogram, while the private car was heading towards Dhaka after making a U-turn from the wrong side of the road near a hotel.
“Legal proceedings are underway,” he said, adding that traffic movement on the highway remained normal.
