416 die in road accidents during Eid holidays: NGO

As many as 416 travellers have died in 372 road accidents across the country during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, according to the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh, a non-government organisation.

At least 844 people were also injured in these accidents.

Another 443 travellers were killed in a total of 402 road, rail and waterways accidents, while 868 were injured, said Md Mozammel Haque, general secretary of the organisation, presenting a report from the organisation.

The road accident monitoring cell of the NGO published the annual report on the holidays, as they do every year. An alarming rise in the number of road accidents is common during the Eid holidays, which led the organisation to monitor the accidents, fare hikes and plight of the passengers for more than a decade, the report said.

As the coronavirus pandemic has ebbed, more people travelled during the Eid holidays this time.

As public transport was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, about one million motorcycles and two million easy bikes hit the roads during that time. Therefore, 2.5 million motorcycles and 4 million easy bikes were running on the roads during the Eid holidays.

Despite law enforcers and other government regulators taking active steps to ease the plight of Eid travellers, road accidents rose as usual, the report said.

As many as 416 travellers were killed, while 844 were injured in 372 road accidents in the 15 days from Apr 26, the first day of Eid holidays to May 10, the day people returned to work, said the PWAB secretary general.

This year the number of road accidents rose 14.51 percent, the death toll rose 22.35 percent, and the number of injured passengers rose 26.30 percent in comparison to the Eid holidays in 2021.

During this year’s Eid holidays, at least 25 passengers died in 27 rail accidents with 4 people getting injured. Two died in 3 waterway accidents with 20 injured.

The report showed that motorcycle accidents topped the list of road accidents. At least 164 motorcycle accidents led to the deaths of 145 people and injuries to 110. 

The Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh prepared the report monitoring the news published in the credible national dailies, local newspapers and online news portals, said Haque.