United News of Bangladesh

Three people, including a man and his son, were killed and another person was injured when a truck hit another stationary truck on the Dhaka-Bogura highway in Sadar upazila of Bogura district on Sunday. Two of the deceased were identified as Taposh Sarkar, 35, the driver of a truck, and his son Tibro Sarkar, 18, of Sherpur upazila. A Rangpur-bound truck dashed a stationary truck, which got out of order, on a flyover in front of Silimpur Pally Bidyut office around 7:30am, leaving three people dead on the spot and another person injured, said Sub-Inspector of Sadar Police Station Manjur Morshed. He said Taposh and his son were repairing one of the tyres of the truck after it got deflated, when the accident happened. On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies. The injured, Nur Islam, hailing from Birampur of Dinajpur, was taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.

Bangladesh's battle to make its roads safer continues to face steep challenges, with fresh data showing no significant let-up in traffic fatalities. The Road Safety Foundation recorded 458 road accidents in July that claimed 416 lives, underscoring the heavy toll of reckless driving, unsafe road conditions and weak enforcement of traffic rules. The report, prepared by analysing reports from nine national dailies, 17 national and regional online news portals, electronic media and the organisation's own database, also recorded 629 injuries during the month. Among those killed were 57 women and 48 children, highlighting the widespread human cost of road crashes that continue to affect families across the country. Motorcycles remained the deadliest mode of transport. A total of 159 motorcycle crashes killed 138 riders and passengers, accounting for 33.17 percent of all road deaths. Motorcycle accidents made up 34.71 percent of all reported crashes. Pedestrians also continued to bear a heavy burden, with 106 people killed while walking on or crossing roads—representing 25.48 percent of all fatalities. Another 51 drivers and transport assistants lost their lives, accounting for 12.25 percent of the total death toll. Highways remain the most dangerous The analysis found that national highways accounted for the highest number of crashes, with 169 accidents or 36.89 percent of the total. Regional roads recorded 155 accidents (33.84 percent), followed by urban roads with 66 crashes (14.41 percent), rural roads with 61 (13.31 percent), and seven accidents at other locations. Loss of vehicle control emerged as the leading cause of crashes, responsible for 164 accidents or 35.8 percent. Head-on collisions accounted for 123 crashes (26.85 percent), while 108 accidents (23.58 percent) involved vehicles hitting pedestrians. Rear-end collisions made up 54 incidents (11.79 percent), with the remaining nine attributed to other causes. Vulnerable road users at greatest risk The vehicle-wise fatality analysis paints a grim picture for vulnerable road users. Besides the 138 motorcycle riders and passengers killed, 94 passengers of three-wheelers—including auto-rickshaws, CNG-run vehicles and easy bikes—lost their lives. Another 26 passengers of locally made vehicles such as Nasimon and Bhutbhuti were killed, while 21 bus passengers, 19 occupants of trucks and pickup vehicles, seven passengers of microbuses and ambulances, and five cyclists and rickshaw passengers also died. Dhaka tops casualty list Among the country's eight divisions, Dhaka recorded the highest number of accidents and fatalities. The division witnessed 133 crashes, leaving 125 people dead, or nearly one-third of the national total. Chattogram ranked second in both accidents and deaths, followed by Rajshahi and Rangpur. Barishal recorded the fewest crashes, with 28 accidents claiming 24 lives. Within the capital, Dhaka city recorded 34 road accidents that killed 18 people and injured 47 others during the month. Rail and waterway accidents also claim lives Beyond road crashes, the Road Safety Foundation documented 13 waterway accidents in July that killed nine people and injured 11 others. Railway-related incidents were also significant, with 29 accidents leaving 24 people dead and 18 injured. Renewed calls for stronger enforcement Road safety advocates have repeatedly warned that reckless driving, speeding, inadequate enforcement of traffic laws, unsafe motorcycles, poor road engineering and weak public transport management continue to fuel Bangladesh's high road fatality rate. The latest figures reinforce the urgent need for stricter enforcement of traffic regulations, improved driver training, safer road infrastructure and greater public awareness to reduce preventable deaths on the country's roads.

Four members of a family were killed and two others critically injured after a truck rammed a battery-powered three-wheeler, locally known as a Mithila, in Nilphamari's Domar upazila on Sunday. The deceased were identified as three wheeler driver Parimal Barman Roy, 40; Pratima Barman Roy, 30, wife of Parimal's younger brother Pradip Barman Roy; and Pratima's two children, Bipasha Barman, 8, and Jadab Barman, 4. Pratima's four-year-old twin, Namrat Barman, and another passenger, Shahidul Islam, 40, sustained critical injuries. The injured were initially taken to Domar Upazila Health Complex before being shifted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital as their condition worsened. Witnesses said the family was on its way to attend a wedding in Moraler Danga village under Boragari union when the accident occurred around 3:30pm. A truck travelling from Jaldhaka towards Domar rammed the three-wheeler from behind before veering off the road, leaving four people dead on the spot. Md Habibullah Habib, officer-in-charge (OC) of Domar Police Station, said police and firefighters recovered the bodies and sent the injured to hospital. The truck driver and his helper fled the scene. Legal action is underway, the OC added.

Four people were killed and another was injured when a chicken-laden pickup van rammed into the rear of a stationary truck at Ghonar Chala area in Sakhipur upazila of Tangail early Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Nur Nabi, 64, son of Abul Hakim of Bakshiganj upazila in Jamalpur district; Rafiqul, 18, son of Md Palash of Patnitala upazila in Naogaon district; Sagar, 22, son of Md Ershad of Kendua upazila in Netrakona district; and Sumon, 26, son of Md Selim of Bhola district. Sumon used to live in Mirpur-1 area of Dhaka. According to local sources, bamboo was being loaded onto  the truck parked on the roadside when the speeding pickup van, coming from the Barachawna direction, crashed into the rear of the truck. Four people who were in the pickup van died on the spot, while a man on the bamboo-laden truck sustained serious injuries. The injured, Md Zahirul Islam, 40, son of Afsar Ali Mondal of Lakkhindar village in Ghatail upazila of Tangail, was rescued and admitted to a hospital. Sakhipur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Helal Uddin said the bodies were recovered and an investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the accident. Necessary legal procedures are being carried out, he added.

At least three people were killed and another injured in a road accident in Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj early Friday. The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately, said Amirul Islam, duty officer at Belkuchi Police Station. The accident occurred around 6 am in the Meghulla area when a bus of Dhaka Express collided with a three-wheeler van, leaving three people dead on the spot and another injured. The injured person was sent to a local hospital for treatment, police said. Further details about the victims and the circumstances surrounding the accident were not immediately available. Police are investigating the incident, the duty officer added.  

A hospital employee was killed after being run over by a bus in Hajiganj upazila of Chandpur on Sunday morning. The deceased was identified as Billal Hossain, 48, a security guard at Doctors City Scan Hospital in Hajiganj and son of late Saheb Ali Bhuiyan of Muragaon village in Shahrasti upazila of the district. The accident occurred around 8:00am in front of Monir Filling Station at Toragarh on the Chandpur-Cumilla regional highway. According to police and witnesses, a “Boogdad Paribahan” ran over Billal on the wrong side while trying to overtake another bus, leaving him dead on the spot. Following the incident, the drivers and supervisors of the two buses reportedly fled the scene, leaving the vehicles behind. Officer-in-Charge of Hajiganj Police Station Abdul Mannan said they seized both the buses involved in the incident.

At least five people were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and an ambulance in Nagarkanda upazila of Faridpur on Sunday morning. The deceased included two women and three men, all believed to be passengers of the ambulance. However, their identities could not be known immediately. The accident occurred around 10:45am on the Dhaka-Barishal highway near Shankarpasha Bazar. Officer-in-Charge of Bhanga Highway Police Station Helal Uddin said a Dhaka-bound ambulance collided head-on with a Faridpur-bound BRTC bus. “Five people died on the spot,” he said, adding that rescue operations were still underway. Further details are awaited.  

Three people were killed in a collision between a truck and a motorbike on Khulna-Mongla highway in Bagerhat sadar upazila on Wednesday morning. One of the deceased was identified as Abdul Quader, a resident of Jaria Bhobona area under Fakirhat upazila in Bagerhat. Md Jafar Ahmed, Officer-in-Charge of Katakhali Highway Police Station, said three people were travelling to Khulna from Mongla on a motorbike when it crashed into a truck coming from theopposite direction. The motorbike slid underneath the truck after the collision, leaving one person dead on the spot and two others injured, he said. Fire Service personnel rescued the two injured victims and took them to Bagerhat district hospital where doctors declared them dead. Dr Ejajul Islam, an emergency department physician at Bagerhat 250-bed Hospital, said the two victims died before being brought to the hospital. Their identities could not be confirmed immediately, he added. Senior Station Officer of Bagerhat Fire Service and Civil Defence Station Sheikh Mamunur Rashid said the two injured victims died before reaching the hospital.    

A motorcyclist was killed as a CNG-run auto-rickshaw hit his bike in the Shonir Akhra area of Jatrabari in the capital on Sunday morning. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Sajid Hasan, 30, son of Md Solaiman and employee of a private pharmaceutical company. He used to live in the Merajnagar area of Kadamtali. The victim’s father said Sajid left home for his office on his motorcycle in the morning as usual. At the Shonir Akhra intersection, an auto-rickshaw crashed into his bike around 9:00am, leaving him seriously injured. He was first taken to a local hospital and later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for better treatment, where he died around 11:45am. Inspector Md Faruk, in-charge of the DMCH police camp, said the body has been kept at the hospital morgue.

Road accidents across Bangladesh killed 404 people and injured 709 others in April, according to a monthly report by the Road Safety Foundation, highlighting persistent safety concerns on the country’s roads. The report documented 463 road crashes during the month. Among the deceased were 53 women and 48 children. Motorcycles remained the deadliest mode of transport, with 142 crashes causing 113 deaths, accounting for 27.97 percent of total fatalities. Pedestrians were also heavily affected, with 102 deaths, representing 25.24 percent of total fatalities. In addition, 46 drivers and helpers were killed, making up 11.38 percent. In the capital Dhaka, 36 road accidents resulted in 24 deaths and 67 injuries. Highways and regional roads most dangerous The analysis shows that 41.68 percent of accidents occurred on regional roads, while 36.28 percent took place on national highways. Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of accidents (109) and fatalities (102), while Sylhet Division had the lowest with 12 accidents and 12 deaths. Two trucks set on fire after trader killed in Rajshahi road accident Causes of accidents Loss of vehicle control was the leading cause, responsible for 194 accidents (41.90 percent). Head-on collisions caused 97 crashes (20.95 percent). Vehicle involvement and fatalities Motorcyclists and passengers accounted for the highest number of deaths (113). Three-wheeler passengers such as CNG auto-rickshaws and easy bikes followed with 61 deaths. Truck and covered van passengers accounted for 51 deaths, while bus passengers numbered 30. Private car and microbus passengers accounted for 24 deaths. The victims included professionals from various sectors, including teachers, journalists, police personnel, doctors, engineers, lawyers, NGO workers, businesspeople, students, and garment workers. A total of 49 students were killed in road accidents. Key causes and recommendations The Road Safety Foundation identified major causes of road crashes, including faulty vehicles and roads, speeding, reckless driving, unskilled drivers, poor traffic management, and weak enforcement of traffic laws. It also highlighted systemic issues such as unregulated working hours for drivers, unsafe mixing of slow and fast vehicles on highways, and rising motorcycle use among young riders. The organization recommended restructuring the National Road Safety Council and strengthening key transport authorities along with stricter law enforcement and improved road safety awareness campaigns to reduce fatalities.