16 travellers returning home to Rangpur for Eid killed in accident

Sixteen people returning home for Eid have been killed and at least 11 more injured after the truck they were travelling overturned in Rangpur’s Pirganj Upazila.

The accident occurred around 5:30am on Saturday in Kolabari area on the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway, said Pirganj Police Station OC Rezaul Karim.

Fifty-four people had taken the cement-carrying truck for their journey home from Dhaka to Lalmonirhat, he told bdnews24.com.

The travellers, most of whom were readymade garment workers in Dhaka, were from Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Jhenaidah and Mymensingh, police said.

Police recovered 11 bodies from the spot of the accident early on Saturday. Sixteen injured were sent to different hospitals, but five of them later died while undergoing treatment, said the OC.

Pirganj Upazila Medical Complex’s doctor Ziaur Rahman said eight victims were admitted there, five of whom succumbed to their injuries.

The three others being treated there have been identified as Khadiza, Afroza and Rahima.

Eight others have been admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital with minor injuries, said the hospital’s director Maudud Ahmed.

They have been identified as Jamila, 60, Moyna, 30, Mominul, 34, Khalil, 25, Dulal, 30, Abdul Matin, 25, Mozaffar, 25, and Rahima Begum, 38.

Police have not confirmed yet whether the truck driver and his assistant are among the deceased.

Fifteen of those killed have been identified so far and their bodies have been handed over to their families, said Badarganj Highway Police Outpost SI Hafizur Rahman.

They are – Kadiza’s husband Alamgir Hossain, 30, his brother Saddam Hossain, 24, Afroza’s husband Monir Hossain, 22, Delwar Hossain, 25, Rahima’s husband Jasim Uddin, 42, Majnu Mia, 22, Suborna, 22, Kohinur Islam, 40, Shahidul Islam, 35, Rabiul Alam, 28, Azizul Islam, 22, Mohsin Ali, 25, Nashida Akhtar, Anisuzzaman, 40, and his wife Samsunnahar.

Parliament speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Deputy Sneaker Md Fazle Rabbi Miah and Chief Whip ASM Feroz have mourned the deaths in the tragic accident.