A deafening crash shattered Meherunnesa Jeba’s sleep around 4am on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old mother would remember the moments that followed as a nightmare-waking up trapped beneath a bus seat, surrounded by bodies and shattered glass, with her six-year-old daughter beside her.
For a moment, she could not tell whether what she was seeing was real. Then she noticed blood flowing from her right hand and realised she was injured.
“I woke up to find bodies all around me. I thought I was dreaming, but then I realised I was injured too,” Jeba said, recounting the accident at Bonpara Highway Police Station around 11am.
Jeba was among the survivors of a head-on collision between a bus and a sand-laden truck in the Sarkarpara area of Bonpara, Baraigram upazila, on the Bonpara-Pabna Highway early Tuesday.
The initial report put the death toll at 12, with at least 25 others injured.
“I was sleeping in my seat with my daughter when a loud bang woke me up. I found myself trapped beneath the seat in front of me, with the bodies of four people lying around me. Broken glass was scattered throughout the bus,” she recalled.
“I could hear people crying. When I looked at myself, I saw that my right hand was broken. It was around 4am on Tuesday. I could not tell whether I was dreaming or what I was seeing was real.”
Jeba had been travelling from Barguna to Chapainawabganj to visit her uncle-in-law’s home. She was aboard a bus operated by RP Paribahan and had fallen asleep after becoming exhausted from the long journey.
“When I woke up, blood was flowing from my right hand. That was when I realised the bus had been involved in an accident while I was asleep. By luck, I survived,” she said.
Her six-year-old daughter, Afia, was not physically injured but was crying. Jeba said broken glass covering the bus floor made it difficult for them to get out.
“By then, I had lost my shoes and bag. I stretched out my hand and picked up a sandal lying beside a dead body, but I still could not get out. Hearing our cries, local people came forward to rescue us,” she said.
Bonpara Highway Police Station Sub-Inspector Md Alomgir Hossain said the missing bag was recovered and returned to Jeba around 11:30am. She later left for Barishal.
The accident occurred when the bus collided head-on with a truck carrying sand while attempting to overtake it, according to the report.
Passengers alleged that the bus was carrying more people than its capacity and that the driver was travelling at a dangerously high speed. They said the truck was moving along the left lane of the highway when the bus attempted to overtake it.
Both vehicles’ drivers were killed in the collision, according to the passengers. The victims included a child, several women and elderly people.
Natore Superintendent of Police Shariful Islam confirmed that an army officer was among the dead.
The bodies were recovered and taken to Bonpara Highway Police Station, while the injured were admitted to different hospitals in Natore and Baraigram.
The report said the identities of 12 of the deceased had been established and their bodies handed over to their families.
Among the dead was Anwar Hossain, 30, who had joined a new job only a few days earlier and was returning home to his family.
His journey ended on the highway in Baraigram.
Anwar was from Chaipara village in Sripur union of Bagmara upazila, Rajshahi. His body, wrapped in a white bag, was kept at Bonpara Highway Police Station.
His uncle, Akhtar Hossain, arrived at the station after receiving news of the accident in the morning. He said he had yet to receive the body because the necessary legal formalities had to be completed.
“The bamboo is being cut and cleared, the shroud has been bought, and a grave is being dug in the graveyard beside our home,” Akhtar said. “As soon as I return with the body, Anwar will be buried there.”
Bagmara Police Station Officer-in-Charge Touhidul Islam said the family had been informed after police received news of Anwar’s death. Bagmara police were coordinating with Bonpara Highway Police to facilitate the handover of the body.
Natore-2 lawmaker and parliamentary whip Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, Natore-3 lawmaker Abdul Aziz, Deputy Commissioner Sumani Akter and Superintendent of Police Shariful Haque visited the accident site.
A seven-member investigation committee has been formed to determine the cause of the crash.
Dulu expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and said the prime minister would provide financial assistance of Tk1 lakh to each bereaved family.
He also said he would take initiatives to widen the Pabna-Bonpara highway to help prevent accidents.
