7 day labourers killed in Daudkandi road crash, ‘helper was in driver’s seat’

“We had all set out from Dinajpur on a truck in search of work. Now I am in hospital and my arm is broken,” one survivor says

A group of day labourers set off on a truck from Dinajpur to the south of the country in search of work. But, before they reached their destination, seven of them had lost their lives.

In the aftermath of the accident, it was uncovered that the truck driver’s assistant was at the wheel.

The Chattogram-bound truck, laden with rice and carrying the day labourers, veered out of control and crashed into a ditch in the Hasanpur area of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Cumilla’s Daudkandi on Tuesday morning.

In addition to the seven deaths, six others were hospitalised with injuries from the accident.

Jahangir, one of the passengers, said: “The driver let his helper drive the truck after we reached the Meghna Bridge Toll Plaza in Munshiganj’s Bhaberchar. The truck veered out of control when it reached Daudkandi.

The dead have been identified as Mohammad Afzal Hossain, 35, Sohrab Hossain, 40, Salek, 45, Sumon, 21, Abu Hossain, 30, Bishu Mia, 35, and Abdur Rashid, 55. All of them hail from Dinajpur’s Nawabganj Upazila.

When the truck crashed, 13 people were crushed under it. Seven died at the scene. The day labourers had all set off from Dinajpur on top of the sacks of rice, hoping to find work in Cumilla and Feni.

Md Hanif, another man injured in the accident, said: “All of us were on top of the truck. I couldn’t tell when all of us were thrown from the vehicle.”

“We had all set out from Dinajpur on a truck in search of work. Now I am in hospital and my arm is broken.”

Mohammad Iqbal Bahar Majumdar, chief (OC) of Daudkandi Highway Police Station, said the bodies of the dead are currently at the station, while the injured are receiving treatment at the Gouripur Upazila Health Complex and other nearby hospitals.

Alamgir Hossain, general secretary of the Daudkandi Upazila branch of We Demand Safe Road, said: “Having spoken with the injured, we learnt that the helper was driving the truck.”

“Freight vehicles carrying passengers is completely prohibited. We could have avoided so many deaths if someone had stopped them.”