A tourist bus heading to Tanguar Haor overturned into a roadside ditch in Sunamganj early Friday, leaving a mother and her daughter dead on the spot.
The accident occurred around 5:30am in front of Shatrumardan Bagherkona village, near Pagla Bazar in Shantiganj upazila of Sunamganj district.
The deceased were identified as Monjura Akter, 37, wife of Abdullah Al Mamun of Doyalia village in Chandpur, and their 10-year-old daughter Ayesha Siddika. Abdullah Al Mamun serves as an official at the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). The family was travelling from Dhaka to visit the scenic Tanguar Haor.
According to Joykalash Highway Police and witnesses, a bus belonging to Sejuti Travels was carrying 41 family members of 11 senior officials of BCIC from Dhaka to Sunamganj for a leisure trip. When the vehicle reached Shatrumardan Bagherkona area near Pagla Bazar, it lost control and overturned into a ditch on the left side of the road.
Monjura and her daughter were crushed under the bus and died instantly, while at least 15 passengers sustained injuries.
Soon after the incident, the bus driver fled the scene. Locals rushed to the spot, rescued the injured, and took them to the Shantiganj Upazila Health Complex, where they received primary treatment.
Kuhinur Rahman Nahid, a journalist and resident of Bagherkona village, said, “We woke up to a loud noise at dawn and rushed to the spot, only to find the tourist bus overturned in the roadside ditch. We immediately informed the highway police and fire service. It seems the driver might have dozed off or lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle on the narrow road.”
Abdullah Al Mamun, the husband of the deceased, said they had travelled safely from Dhaka to Sylhet and even stopped at Temukhi point on the Sylhet–Sunamganj highway for the driver to take a 30-minute rest.
“As we neared the accident site, the bus suddenly started moving erratically and then plunged into the roadside ditch. My wife and daughter were trapped underneath and killed. We believe the driver might have fallen asleep, as there was no collision with any other vehicle. He fled immediately after the crash,” he said.
Joykalash Highway Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Suman Kumar Chowdhury said, “With the help of the fire service, we recovered the bodies of two victims and rescued the injured from beneath the overturned bus.”
Shantiganj Fire Service Station Officer Montosh Mallik added that the two bodies recovered from under the tourist bus were handed over to highway police.
