Three people were killed when a speeding truck rammed their cycle rickshaw on Cumilla-Sylhet regional highway early on Saturday morning.

The accident occurred around 6am in
Mainamati union of Burichang upazila. The victims were all occupants of the rickshaw.

Police said the truck coming from Sylhet hit the rickshaw from behind near the office of the Mainamati Union Parishad. The impact of the crash was such that the rickshaw puller and two passengers dead on the spot.

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Two of the deceased were identified as rickshaw puller Ismail Hossain Sagar of Daklapara village, and passenger Abdul Ahad, a resident of Sahapur area in Juri upazila of Habiganj district.

However, the identity of the third deceased could not be known yet.

Mainamati Highway Police have arrested three people, including the driver and the helper of the truck, in connection with the accident and sent the bodies for post-mortem.

Road accidents in Bangladesh

Road accidents are common in Bangladesh and have been a major cause of deaths.

During the last Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush, road accidents claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, according to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samiti, a human rights body.

Besides, 513 people, including 63 children, were killed and 598 injured in 409 road accidents across the country in March, the Road Safety Foundation said on April 5.

According to the NGO, 147 lives were lost in 138 two-wheeler accidents, which is 28.65% of the total deaths.

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In a report released in February 2020, the World Bank pointed out that Bangladesh should invest an estimated $7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities.

The report attributed the high death rate on Bangladesh’s roads to lack of investments in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes.