At least 298 people were killed in 373 road accidents across the country in the 15 days – from March 14 to March 28 – during Eid-ul-Fitr journey, with an average of 20 deaths per day, according to the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).
Over 2,000 people were injured in road crashes during the period, says a report published by the organisation on Thursday. The report was prepared based on data from the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and media reports.
Among the deceased, 46 were women and 67 children.
Motorcycle accidents accounted for the highest number of fatalities, with 116 deaths – 38.92% of the total. Bikes were involved in 38.33% of all accidents. Besides, 47 pedestrians were killed, while 36 drivers and their assistants lost their lives.
During the period, 11 waterway accidents left nine people dead, 23 injured and two missing, while 29 railway accidents claimed the lives of 41 people and left 209 others injured.
According to the RSF’s analysis, 115 accidents (30.83%) occurred on national highways, 161 (43.16%) on regional roads, 48 (12.86%) on rural roads, 42 (11.26%) on urban roads, and 7 (1.87%) at ferry ghats and other locations.
Of the total accidents, 96 (25.73%) were head-on collisions, 152 (40.75%) took place due to loss of control, 49 (13.13%) involved vehicles hitting pedestrians, 68 (18.23%) were rear-end collisions, and eight (2.14%) occurred due to other reasons.