The deceased were identified as Sanjit Dhar ,40 of Moksudpur upazila, Krishna Kirtania,32 of Boro Dumuria village of Tungipara, van driver Akramuddin Mollah 55 of Nilpha village of the same uapzila and helper of the bus driver Thanda Mia,52 of Bagerhat district.

Officer-in-Charge of Tungipara police station AFM Nasim said the Dhaka-bound bus from Pirojpur first hit a van and then fell into the ditch as he lost control over the steering around 10 am, leaving  the van driver dead on the spot and 23 others injured.

Three of the injured died on the way to hospital.

The other injured were taken to 250-bed general hospital and Tungipara upazila health complex, he said.

Witnesses said the driver was driving the bus recklessly and chatting with two others ignoring the passengers’ safety.

Road accidents in Bangladesh

Road accidents in Bangladesh is still one of the leading causes of deaths as 37,170 people were killed in 26,902 accidents across the country in the last five years.

Besides, 82,758 people were injured in these accidents, according to a report released by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS), a passenger welfare body, marking the National Roads Safety Day on October 22.

According to the report, 8,642 people were killed and 21,855 injured in 6,581 road accidents in 2015 alone.
In 2016, some 6,055 people were killed and 15,914 injured in 4,312 road accidents.

Besides, 7,397 people were killed and 16,193 injured in 4,979 accidents in 2,017 while 7,221 people were killed and 1,5466 were injured in 5514 accidents in 2018; and 7,855 people were killed and 13,330 injured in 5,516 accidents in 2019, the BJKS report said.

Also read: Road crash fatalities jumped 57pc in June: Jatri Kalyan Samity