Bus
Rape attempt on woman on moving bus: Driver, helper held
Police in Chattogram have found out that a bus driver and his associates arrested in a case of mugging were also involved in an attempt to rape a garment worker on their moving vehicle.
The two identified as Md Gias Uddin Nayan, 21, and his associate Shimato Dutta, 22 have now been shown arrested in the attempted rape case filed by the woman.
The driver and his associate were arrested from the Chandgaon area on Thursday night in a case filed at the Bandar police station over mugging a passenger. The incident took place on the same bus before the attempted rape, said Kishore Majumder, sub-inspector (SI) of Bandar police station.
Also read: Rape-accused escapes from police custody in Gaibandha
Mugging victim, Palash Kanti lodged a complaint at the police station the same day.
He alleged that three alleged muggers posing as passengers of the bus stabbed him and took away Tk 10,000 in cash and two mobile phones. Later, the bus took him to the City Gate area and forcibly took his PIN number and withdrew Tk 40,800 from her bKash account and then to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), Cinema Palace junction and Bahaddarhat and the money was withdrawn from his bkash account in three phases.
The bus dropped him off at the flyover in Lalkhan Bazar area around 3.30 pm. Then he lodged the complaint after receiving first aid, said the SI.
SI Kishore said, "After scrutinizing the CCTV footage of the area including Nimtala, we found that a rape attempt was made on a garment worker on the same bus earlier."
The 20-year-old garment worker got on the bus with 10-12 other workers to return home around 9pm on May 19. At Bahaddarhat area, when other workers got down, the bus started to move quickly with the lone female worker. At that time, the assistant was driving the bus and the driver tried to rape the girl.
Also read: Fugitive PBI inspector suspended over Khulna college girl's rape
Later, the woman jumped off of the moving bus to save herself and was seriously injured.
According to police, the victim was rescued unconscious from Bakalia and admitted to CMCH.
After being released from the hospital on May 25, the woman lodged a complaint at the city's Bakalia police station. Police later arrested bus driver Anwar Hossain Tipu and his associate Jony Das. The bus was also seized.
Man killed in road crash on Hanif Flyover
A 30-year-old man was killed in a road accident on Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover in Dhaka Thursday night, police said.
The deceased Munna, a computer operator of a private company, was from Chandpur Sadar upazila.
A bus of Thikana Paribahan ran over Munna when he fell on the road after failing to get on the same vehicle around 7:30pm, said Tapas Mandal, sub-inspector (SI) of Wari Police Station.
Munna was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead at 7:40pm, the SI added. "The body has been kept at the hospital morgue for autopsy."
Also read: Worker dies falling off city flyover
32 die in Zimbabwean bus accident
At least 32 people died Thursday night when a bus carrying members of the Zion Christian Church was involved in an accident in Chipinge, southeastern Zimbabwe.
State broadcaster ZBC reported Friday that about 40 others were seriously injured in the accident which happened near the Jopa Market at around 11 p.m.
READ: 8 die in India bus accident
This marks a bad beginning to the Easter weekend.
Bus strike called off in Rangpur
Bus services to Dhaka returned to normal after three days on Friday, as transport workers in Rangpur withdrew their strike on Thursday night.
The workers called off their strike after a meeting with the bus owners over their five-point demand, including wage hike, in the presence of senior officials of the district administration and the metropolitan police, said AWM Rayhan Shah, additional deputy commissioner (education and ICT).
"We helped clear the misunderstanding between the striking workers and the bus owners in the meeting, following which the former decided to resume services to Dhaka," he said.
READ: Indefinite bus strike in Sylhet from Tuesday
Passengers heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally, we feel relieved," said a commuter.
On Tuesday morning, the transport workers in Rangpur embarked on an indefinite strike without any prior notice causing immense sufferings to regular passengers.
Elderly woman killed in Chandpur road crash
An elderly woman was killed as a bus ran over her on Chandpur-Cumilla regional highway at Sengaon area of Sadar upazila on Friday noon.
The deceased was identified as Anowara Begum, 65, a resident of Raldia village in Ashikati union of the upazila.
Quoting locals, officer-in-charge (OC) of sadar police station, A Rashid, said a Cumilla-bound bus hit Anowara around 12pm while she was crossing the highway after buying essentials from a grocery shop, leaving her dead on the spot.
Read: Couple killed in Madaripur road crash
On information, police recovered the body, he added.
The bus was seized but the driver managed to flee, the officer said.
Legal action will be taken in this regard, added the OC.
12 buses set on fire in Faridpur
At least 12 buses were set on fire by unidentified miscreants at a terminal in Faridpur district town in the early hours of Saturday, prompting the police to initiate a criminal probe.
All the buses -- owned by former Awami League leader Sajjad Hossain Barkat and his brother Imtiaz Hossain Rubel, both facing money laundering charges -- had been kept at the terminal since their seizure by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in June 2020.
READ: Locals set fire to truck that killed 2 youths on motorcycle in Kushtia
Md Alimuzzaman, superintendent of Faridpur Police, said that some assailants set the 12 buses of ‘South Line’ Paribahan on fire around 1.30am at the terminal in Goalchamte. "Some 22 buses were parked at the terminal," he said.
On information, fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was eventually estinguished.
Suraiya Parveen, wife of Barkat, said that a local court on February 25, 2020, ordered the seizure of 55 vehicles, owned by Barkat-Rubel.
Shipul Ahmed, assistant director of Faridpur Fire Service and Civil Defense, said, “A probe is on to unearth the origin of the fire.”
“The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will look into the case,” said inspector Nasir Hossain.
On March 3 last year, the CID filed a chargesheet against 10 people, including Barkat and Rubel, in a Tk 2,000-crore money laundering case.
READ: RU student killed in road crash: students vandalise and set fire on vehicles
CID's assistant superintendent Uttam Kumar Biswas submitted the chargesheet in the Dhaka metropolitan magistrate's court.
Pittsburgh bridge collapses, drops city bus into ravine
A 50-year-old bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday, requiring rescuers to rappel down a ravine and form a human chain to reach a few occupants of a municipal bus that plummeted along with the span. No deaths were reported.
The collapse came hours before President Joe Biden arrived in the city to promote his $1 trillion infrastructure law, which has earmarked about $1.6 billion for Pennsylvania bridge maintenance.
At least four people required hospital treatment. Five other vehicles were also on the bridge at the time. The cause was being investigated, and crews searched under the debris for additional victims.
A large crack showed on the end of the bridge where the segmented bus landed 150 feet (46 meters) down in the ravine, as if hit by an earthquake. A car landed upside down in front of the bus, which was operated by the Pittsburgh area’s transit agency.
The Forbes Avenue bridge over Fern Hollow Creek in Frick Park came down at 6:39 a.m., city officials said. The loud noise from the collapse was followed by a hissing sound and the smell of natural gas, witnesses said.
“The first sound was much more intense, and kind of a rumbling, which I guess was the structure, the deck hitting the ground,” said Ken Doyno, a resident who lives four houses away. “I mean, the whole house rattled at that point.”
Ruptured gas lines along the bridge produced the leak, and the supply of gas was shut off within a half-hour, city officials said.
As Biden toured the scene, an officer told him a person who was running by helped first responders get people out of cars. He called it a miracle.
“It really is, it’s astounding,” Biden said.
By midafternoon, three adults were being treated, and all were in fair condition, the UPMC hospital system said. A fourth person had received treatment and was released.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate. The agency tweeted a photo late Friday of Chair Jennifer Homendy at the scene.
A search-and-rescue team combed the area, said Sam Wasserman, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. Drones were brought in to help.
Most of the 10 people evaluated for injuries were first responders who were checked for exhaustion or because of the cold and snowy weather, Gainey said.
The segmented bus operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County had two passengers in addition to the driver, said Adam Brandolph, spokesperson for the agency.
The bus driver, Daryl Luciani, told WPXI-TV that as soon as he reached the bridge, he believed it was collapsing.
“I could just feel it,” Luciani told the station. “The bus was bouncing and shaking and it seems long, but it was probably less than a minute that the bus finally came to a stop, and I was just thankful that nobody on the bus was hurt.”
The passengers appeared to be OK, he said, so he pulled the air brake and waited for help to arrive. First responders reached them after descending with flashlights in the predawn darkness and used a rope to help him and other occupants get to safety, Luciani said.
About two hours after the collapse, Brandolph said, one of the passengers was on another bus, began complaining of injuries and was taken to a hospital. The driver and other passenger were not hurt, according to Brandolph.
The bus had started its route in downtown Pittsburgh and had been heading to the suburban community of Braddock.
“Judging by the time of day, had this bus been traveling inbound, toward downtown, there likely would have been more people on the bus and obviously could have been a much, much more dire situation,” Brandolph said.
The bus had seven or eight cameras, and any footage they captured of the collapse will be part of the investigation, Brandolph said.
READ: Under-construction bridge collapses in Patuakhali
Neighbors said a gas company worker went door to door to get them to evacuate from the immediate vicinity before the gas was successfully shut off.
“Apart from just this abiding noise, we could begin to smell gas and that was the truly frightening thing, then with that smell we both said, let’s get dressed and get out of here,” said Lyn Krynski, whose home is nearest the bridge.
“It sounded like a weather phenomenon more than anything,” said Douglas Gwilym, who was shoveling about an inch of snow when he heard the noise. “It was all I had to compare it to — it was this odd, whooshing sound.”
The bridge is an important artery that leads to the Squirrel Hill and Oakland neighborhoods and is a popular route toward downtown Pittsburgh. Authorities told motorists to avoid the area. Several neighbors said a weather-prompted two-hour school delay may have prevented a far worse human tragedy.
At the site of the collapse, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman called it “just an awful, surreal scene.”
“I hope it’s a wake-up call to the nation that we need to make these infrastructure investments,” Fetterman said.
The steel bridge, which was built in 1970, carries about 14,500 vehicles a day, according to a 2005 estimate.
Wasserman said the most recent inspection occurred in September but the report was not immediately available.
But a September 2019 inspection of the city-owned bridge revealed the deck and superstructure to be in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory.
A spreadsheet on the state Department of Transportation website listed the bridge’s overall condition as poor, which, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, means “deterioration of primary structural elements has advanced.”
Stop taking extra fares on public transport, HC asks BRTA
The High Court on Monday asked the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to take measures to stop taking extra fares on public transport across the country.
The HC bench of Justice Mamunur Rahman and Khandaker Diliruzzaman passed the order after hearing on a writ petition.
It also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain why the failure to enact rules regarding hike in fares of buses, minibuses and other public transport as per Section 122 of the Road Transport Act, 2018 will not be announced illegal and against the law.
The court also asked BRTA to take necessary measures to hang the list of fares in public transport and make it easily visible at each designated bus stop and display it through electronic billboards within a month.
Also read: Buses to run at full capacity, says transport owners’ leader
Supreme Court lawyer Md Abu Taleb, lawyer Mokhlesur Rahman and barrister Mustasim Tanjir stood for the petitioner.
In the writ petition, the road transport secretary, BRTA chairman and others were made respondents.
On January 4, lawyer Md Abu Taleb filed the writ petition seeking rule and directive of the High Court.
Also read: Extra fares in public transports: 1408 buses fined Tk 57.3 lakh in 30 days
‘Pushed’ off a bus, passenger dies at Wari
A man allegedly died after he was allegedly pushed off a moving passenger bus at Joykali Temple intersection at city’s Wari on Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Md Irfan Ahmed, 48, an electronics mechanic who worked in a shop at Nawabpur area.
The incident occurred at 10 am.
Also read: Passenger pushed off moving bus: Driver, helper held in Chattogram
Irfan’s brother Md Rayhan said, his brother left home from Demra for the shop in the morning and after a while they were informed by some witnesses that helper of a Green Bangla Paribahan bus pushed him on the road.
He was at first taken to a local hospital and was later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the duty doctors announced him dead around 12 pm.
Tanvir Hasan, Sub-Inspector of Wari police station said, “Initially we got information from witnesses that Irfan was pushed by the bus helper but he had no severe injury mark on his body except his left eye was swollen and blue. “
Also read: 2 killed in Feni road accident
The body was sent for an autopsy and a case will be filed in this regard, said the SI.
Dinajpur road crash leaves 2 dead
Two people were killed and two others injured in a road accident on Dinajpur-Phulbari road at Doulatpur in Chirirbandar upazila of Dianjpur district on Sunday.
The deceased were identified as Delwar Hossain, 35, son of Aftab Uddin Molla and Ishak, 60 of the upazila.
Read: Commuter train derails in Dinajpur, loco master injured
The accident occurred around 12 pm when a Dhaka-bound bus of ‘Shayamoli Paribahan’ hit a battery-run auto-rickshaw, leaving one dead on the spot and three others injured, said sub-inspector of Ambari Police camp Mintu.
The injured were taken to Dinajpur M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital where doctors declared one of them dead.
Police seized the bus.