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Published : 04 Jun 2026, 11:47 AM
In the 13 days before and after Eid-ul-Azha this year (May 21-Jun 2), 281 people were killed in 292 road accidents across Bangladesh, according to a study.
Among the dead, 34 were women and 48 were children.
Another 837 people were injured, according to a report from the Road Safety Foundation on Thursday.
Motorcycles were involved in 48.28 percent of the total accidents, with 124 people killed in 141 accidents - 44.12 percent of the total deaths.
The report was prepared based on reporting from nine national dailies, 17 national and regional online news portals, electronic media, and its own data, the Road Safety Foundation said.
The report said 37 pedestrians were killed in accidents, 13.16 percent of the total deaths. Vehicle drivers and assistants accounted for 33 deaths, or 11.74 percent.
During this period, eight people were killed and 15 injured in 13 waterway accidents, while 17 people were killed and nine injured in 22 railway accidents.
Along with this, 24 sacrificial cows died.
What Vehicles Were Involved?
The death toll included 124 motorcycle drivers and passengers (44.12 percent); 21 bus passengers (7.47 percent); 32 truck, covered van, pickup truck, or trolley passengers (11.38 percent); 11 car or ambulance passengers (3.91 percent); 48 three-wheeler (easy bike, CNG autorickshaw, autovan) passengers (17.08 percent), and eight passengers of locally made vehicles such as Nasimon, Bhatbhoti, and Mahindra) (2.84 percent)
How Did Accidents Occur?
Of the accidents, 73 (25 percent) were head-on collisions, 127 (43.49 percent) were caused by vehicles veering out of control, 38 (13 percent) were instances of vehicles ramming pedestrians, 42 (14.38 percent) were caused by crashing into vehicles from behind, and 12 (4.10 percent) were due to other causes.
Vehicles Involved in Accidents
The number of vehicles involved in accidents was 507.
Of these, 79 were buses, 61 trucks, 11 covered vans, 24 pickups, five trolleys, two lorries, seven dump trucks, one Fire Service vehicle, one gas lorry, five microbuses, 11 cars, four ambulances, 2 SUVs (jeeps), 157 motorcycles, 93 three-wheelers, 18 locally made vehicles, 12 pedal rickshaws-bicycles and 14 unidentified vehicles.
The highest number of accidents and fatalities occurred in the Dhaka Division, where 101 people died in 95 accidents.
The lowest number was in the Sylhet Division with seven people killed in nine accidents.
As a single district, Faridpur had the highest number of accidents with 28 people killed in 19 accidents.
Eid Pilgrimage and Accident Review
More than 10 million people travelled home from the capital Dhaka this year and about 40 million people travelled within the country for the Eid holidays.
Aside from trains, there was comparatively less suffering on the road and waterways during the Eid pilgrimage both ways.
There was heavy traffic congestion on the roads to the north.
Due to mismanagement, excess fares were collected on roads, railways and waterways, which the government could not prevent.
Some passengers could not board their scheduled trains even after paying for their ticket.
There was a huge crowd of passengers at the Sadarghat in Dhaka, but no accidents occurred.
During this Eid pilgrimage, 15 labourers were killed when a rod-laden truck overturned in Tangail’s Kalihati.
They were the sole income earners for their families. Thirteen accidents occurred when other vehicles crashed into the back of broken-down vehicles parked on expressways and other highways.
These accidents resulted in massive losses of life.
In the 12 days before and after Eid in 2025, 312 people were killed in accidents. On average, 26 people were killed every day.
This year, an average of 21.61 people were killed every day. This means that the number of deaths has decreased by 16.88 percent compared to last year.
However, this rate of decrease in deaths does not indicate any improvement because there has been no management improvement in the transport sector.
Eleven pedestrians have been killed by reckless motorcycles of teenagers and young men and 57 percent of those injured in motorcycle accidents are between the ages of 14 and 20.
