Published : 08 Aug 2026, 01:51 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:31 AM
Like many others from his area, Saju Mia - a middle-aged man from Gaibandha's Gobindaganj Upazila - had come to Bogura's Erulia to work as a seasonal labourer during the Aman season.
It is a trip many take every year.
He arrived in Erulia on Thursday night and spent the night in a room, paying Tk 20 for the stay.
A resident of Sapmara Union, Saju sat by the roadside on early Friday morning near Silkibandha of the Bogura-Naogaon Highway, hoping to find work.
Many others sat with him. They gather there to wait for offers and negotiate daily wages before they head off to work in the fields. They typically get around two weeks of work before returning to their villages with their earnings.
Dawn had only just broken, around 5:30am, when a bus veered out of control and ploughed straight into Saju and the others.
What happened next, he found difficult to comprehend.
“Us labourers were all sitting there since dawn. We didn't understand what happened. The bus just suddenly crashed down on us.
"Then I saw blood and bodies lying all around. People later picked me up and brought me to the hospital in a vehicle.”
Fourteen people injured in the accident have been admitted to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
Saju is one of them. He was speaking from a bed in the emergency department.
He said most of the dead and injured were farm workers and day labourers.
Of the dead, two were from Bogura, while the rest had come from Gaibandha and Joypurhat.
The dead have been identified as Abu Sayeed, 45; Nur Alam, 45; Md Anarul, 55; Md Amirul, 40; Bellal Hossain, 45; and Nur Mohammad Sardar, 67; Md Tajimul, 45.
Abdur Rahim, a grocer at Erulia Bandar, was in his shop when the accident occurred.
He stepped outside after hearing a loud crash and realised what had happened.
"This is where the day labourers gather - people line both sides of this road. Whoever needs workers negotiates and takes them along.”
“[On Friday] the bus suddenly hit the electric pole beside my shop, but instead of stopping, it kept moving straight through the people," Rahim said.
"Right after the accident, the driver and his helper fled. We then went and picked up several people to send to hospital," he added.
Md Sakibur, the cousin of the deceased Sayeed, stood outside the hospital, crying.
"Brother, it was written in his fate. I was supposed to come [on Saturday]. Sayeed and my cousin's husband Amirul had come a day early. They got caught in the accident right after arriving. Both died.
“Now I'm waiting for the bodies,” he said.
Al Amin Sardar, nephew of the deceased Nur Mohammad, said: "My uncle had come to Erulia at dawn to hire labourers for planting paddy in his field. Then we got the news that he'd died after being hit by the bus.
“We came to the hospital as soon as we heard. A perfectly healthy man left home, and now he's gone."
Speaking to local residents, details emerged about the death of another victim, Bellal.
They said Bellal was on his own motorcycle, likely at the market to hire labourers.
He was bringing a worker back on his motorcycle when he got caught in the accident and died.
His relatives arrived shortly afterwards and took his body home.
As news of the accident spread, Fire Service and police personnel rushed to Erulia Bandar.
They recovered the bodies and took several injured people to hospital.
Ibrahim Ali, chief of Bogura Sadar Police Station, said the identities of all seven deceased have been confirmed.
Two bodies have been taken home by relatives, while the remaining five remain at the hospital morgue, to be handed over to families after formalities are completed.
Police said the injured are being given Tk 25,000 each from the Upazila executive officer's office, while the families of the dead will each receive Tk 500,000, to be disbursed following submission of the necessary documents, as per rules.
Officer Ibrahim said, “The bus has been seized following the accident. If any family of the victims files a case, we will take legal action.
“Police will also investigate to determine the actual cause of the accident.”
On learning of the accident, the prime minister's personal physician ANM Monowarul Kadir Bitu visited the hospital to check on the injured.
He inquired about their treatment and spoke with the families of the dead.
