Nine killed as highway bus crushes wedding party microbus in Munshiganj

A collision between a bus and a microbus carrying a wedding party on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway in Munshiganj’s Sreenagar Upazila has left at least nine people killed and 12 others injured.

Munshiganj Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 Nov 2019, 08:48 AM
Updated : 22 Nov 2019, 08:36 PM

The accident occurred when the driver of the Swadhin Paribahan bus recklessly overtook another bus in Shologhar on Friday afternoon, Hedayetul Islam Bhuiyan, chief of Sreenagar Police Station, said.

The microbus packed with wedding guests was bound for Kamrangirchar from Konkosar village, where the shock from the accident replaced celebrations with mourning.

Relatives mourning the people killed in a bus-microbus collision on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway at the Srinagar Upazila Health Complex in Munshiganj on Friday. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

The dead include the groom’s father Abdur Rashid Bepari, 60, sister ‘Liza’, 22, her daughter ‘Tabassum’, 4, the groom’s sister-in-law Runa Akter, 22, Runa’s son ‘Tahsin’, 3, their neighbours Keramat Ali, 70, and ‘Mofijul’, 60, and microbus driver Billal Mia, 28. The other deceased is a woman named Runa Akter, 25.

Eight of them died on the spot while four injured were admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital where one of the injured, Runa, died later.

Another injured man, Jahangir Alam, 45, was transferred to a private hospital at Mohammadpur and put on life support, his friend ‘Hridoy’ said.

Md Joynal, 45, another person injured in the accident, was admitted to the Salimullah Medical College Hospital, brother Sharafat Hossain said.

Onlookers gather after a bus-microbus collision on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway in Munshiganj's Srinagar Upazila on Friday. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

OC Hedayetul said 10 passengers of the bus were given first aid for injuries in the accident.

The bus driver and his assistant fled the scene after the accident, for which traffic on the highway was halted for around half an hour.

At Konkosar village, the shock traumatised groom Rubel Hossain, a grocer, and his brother Sohel Hossain.

Relatives mourning the people killed in a bus-microbus collision on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway at the Srinagar Upazila Health Complex in Munshiganj on Friday. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Wailing relatives were trying to console each other with hugs.

Nazrul Islam, a neighbour, said they were going to register the marriage at the bride’s home on two microbuses.

“We survived as we were with the groom on the other microbus,” he said.

Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md Moniruzzaman Talukder said the district administration has formed a committee of five to investigate the accident.