Road accidents caused 7,221 deaths in 2018: Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Organisation

At least 7,221 people have died in road accidents across the country in 2018, according to a report by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Organisation.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Jan 2019, 08:49 AM
Updated : 25 Jan 2019, 10:37 AM

A further 15,446 people were injured in a total of 5,514 road crashes throughout the year, the report added.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the organisation, announced their findings at the launch of its Annual Road Accident Observation Report in National Press Club on Friday.

The data is based on reports of road crashes published by national, regional and online news agencies, he said.

The victims in 41.53 percent of the reported cases died as a result of being run over by vehicles while 29.72 percent of the deaths occurred in head-on collisions between vehicles.

Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Organisation releases a report on road crash casualties and injuries from last year during a media briefing at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

Around 16.18 percent of the road crash casualties resulted from vehicles falling into ditches.

The number of fatalities from road crashes in 2018 is lower than last year despite an increase in the number of reported accidents, according to the report.

In 2017, 4,979 road crashes left 7,397 dead and 16,193 injured. 

The report also found that 394 were killed in a total of 370 railway accidents while 248 people were injured in 2018.

Waterway accidents left 126 dead and 234 injured while 387 people were reported missing.

Five aviation accidents claimed 55 casualties and left 32 injured, according to the data.

A total of 6,048 accidents on roads, railways, waterways and airways occurred in 2018.

# Among the fatalities in road crashes last year, 787 were women and 487 children.

# Around 1,252 drivers and transport workers, 880 students, 231 law-enforcement personnel, 106 teachers and 34 journalists died in road accidents last year.

# Trucks and covered vans were involved in the highest number of road accidents, making up 28/68 percent of total crashes reported in 2018. Motorcycles were involved in 25.30 percent, buses 18.92 percent, autorickshaws 9.61 percent and Nasiman-Kariman in 5.80 percent of the total crashes.

# The victims in 41.53 percent of the reported cases died as a result of being run over by vehicles while 29.72 percent of the deaths occurred in head-on collisions between vehicles.