The deceased was identified as Ponchanan Biswash, 50, a teacher at Shaheed Abul Kashem Degree College.

Officer-in-Charge of Harintana Police Station Enamul Haque said the victim was walking on the roadside in the morning when the truck hit him.

Also read: Chattogram road crash kills 3

The college teacher was rushed to Khulna Medical College and Hospital by passersby, where he succumbed to his injuries around 9am, the OC said.

The body has been sent to morgue for an autopsy, he added. "Police have arrested the truck driver and his helper."

Road accidents in Bangladesh

Road accidents continue to rise in Bangladesh, with the country seeing 439 deaths in 417 accidents in November 2020, according to Road Safety Foundation (RSF), an organisation working to ensure safer roads.

Also read:Couple killed in Dhaka road crash 

As per a World Bank report, published in February 2020, Bangladesh needs to invest an estimated extra $7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities.

The report attributes the high death rate on Bangladesh roads to a chronic lack of investment in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes.

It has also identified relevant investment priorities to reverse the trend.

The report claims that annual road crash deaths per capita in Bangladesh are twice the average rate for high-income countries and five times that of the best-performing countries in the world.

Also read:5 killed in Kushtia road crash 

It highlights that children and working-age population are the most affected by road crash injuries in Bangladesh.