Driver dies, seven injured as ambulance hits tractor in Barishal

Fire Service says the ambulance was returning from Dhaka with a patient and relatives on board

An ambulance driver has been killed and seven others, including a child, injured in a head-on collision with a brick-laden tractor in Barishal’s Gournadi Upazila.

The crash occurred on Friday afternoon on the Barishal–Dhaka Highway near Mahilara Mollabari, Gournadi Highway Police chief Shamim Sheikh said.

The dead driver, Md Naimul Alam, 28, was a resident of Mirsharai Upazila in Chattogram.

The injured are tractor driver Shakil Hossain, his assistant Pradip, and ambulance passengers Md Ibrahim, Asma Begum, Yakub Hossain, Sumi Begum and Sanjida Khanam.

All have been admitted to hospital.

Mizanur Rahman, station officer of Gournadi Fire Service, said an ambulance of Bismillah Paribahan was heading towards Barishal from Dhaka, carrying a patient and relatives.

On the way, it collided head-on with a brick-laden tractor, locally known as a “Peku”, coming from the opposite direction.

The impact crushed the front portion of the ambulance, killing the driver on the spot.

Firefighters recovered the body and handed it over to Highway Police.

Officer Shamim said both vehicles involved in the crash have been seized. The body has been sent to the morgue for postmortem examination.

A case is being processed over the incident, he added.