Five people were killed as a bus crashed into a battery-run auto-rickshaw in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur on Saturday night, police said.

The deceased were identified as auto rickshaw driver Nazrul Islam, 27, and its four passengers- Mehedi Hasan, 44, Atiqul Islam, 42, Saidul Islam, 27, and Shahin Uddin, 28.

The accident occurred around 10:30 pm when a speeding passenger bus of ‘Itihas Paribahan’ collided with the auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction at Makish Bathan in the upazila, leaving the auto-rickshaw driver and Mehedi dead on spot and three injured, said Abdul Bashar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kaliakair police station.

The injured were rushed to Kaliakair Health Complex in critical condition where two of them succumbed to their injuries, said the OC.

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Later, another was shifted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital where he was declared dead, said Sub-Inspector (SI) of Kaliakair police station Rahat Akand.

The bodies were handed over to their respective families without post mortem, he added.

Police seized the killer bus but its driver escaped, said the SI.

Road accidents in Bangladesh

As many as 524 people including 73 children were killed and 821 others injured in 467 road accidents across the country in June alone.

Of these, 204 people died in motorbike accidents alone during this period, which is 38.93% of the total fatalities, the Road Safety Foundation said in its latest report released on July 4.

Besides, 107 pedestrians, 86 drivers and their assistants were killed in the accidents.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh witnessed 398 deaths on roads in 319 accidents in just 15 days during journeys before and after Eid-ul-Azha this year.

The accidents and deaths recorded on Bangladesh roads during Eid-ul-Azha were highest in the last 7 years, according to a report prepared by Jatri Kalyan Samiti, a passenger welfare organization.