Bus
Freight transport strike in Sylhet on November 9 and 10
The Sylhet District Truck, Pickup, Covered Van Owners-Workers Council on Nov 9 and Nov 10 has called for a 48-hour freight transport strike in Sylhet protesting additional toll collection at Lamakazi, Sherpur, Fenchuganj and Sheola bridges and ‘illegal’ collection of tolls in the name of Gowainghat Upazila and Chhatak Municipality.
Abu Sarkar, president of the Sylhet divisional workers unity alliance and president of the district truck pickup covered van workers' union, on Monday announced the strike at a protest rally of transport owners and workers at Humayun Rashid Chattar in Sylhet’s South Surma.
READ: Commuters hit hard by transport strike in Khulna
Abu Sarkar said illegal tolls are being collected from all bridges in Sylhet, including Lamkazi Bridge, for years. As no action has been taken by the authorities even after informing the police and the local administration, a strike has been called in Sylhet district on November 9 and 10.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Sylhet District bus-minibus workers union and CNG auto rickshaw union expressed solidarity with the 48-hour strike.
READ: 72-hr transport strike underway in Sylhet
3 teens die as bus hits bike in Barishal
Three teenagers were killed when a speeding bus hit their bike on Shaheed Abdur Rab Serniabat bridge in Barishal city on Friday evening.
The deceased were identified as Siam, son of Sumon Hawladar, Chayan Das, son of Joydeb Das, and Rabbi of Bakerganj municipality area. All of them were aged between 15 and 17 years and students of Class X.
Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Bandar police station, said the accident occurred in the evening when the bus belonging to ‘Ratul-Rohan Paribahan’ rammed the bike at a high speed.
READ: ‘Networker Baire’ actors survive horrific car accident in Gulshan Avenue
The three seriously injured teens were rushed to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.
The three friends, along with 15 others, had gone on a day trip to Barishal city on six bikes.
Police have seized the bus.
READ: 2 killed in Dhaka road accidents
Three bikers killed in Gaibandha crash
Three men were killed when a speeding bus hit their bike on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway in Gaibandha district on Friday night, police said.
The deceased were identified as Mahbur Hossain, Bhuttu Mia and Abdul Karim, all residents of Kalugari village in the district's Gobindaganj upazila.
READ: 2 army personnel killed in Sirajganj road crash
The accident occurred around 9.30pm on the high-speed corridor at Balua Taltola in Gobindaganj when the bus driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the bike.
The impact of the crash was such that the three bikers died on the spot. The bodies have been sent to the local hospital morgue for post-mortem, police said.
Road Accidents in Bangladesh
At least 2,329 people, including 291 women and 381 children, were killed and 4,361 others injured in 2,159 road accidents across the country in the first half of this year, according to a report published in July.
It says the road accidents took place on various highways, national, inter-district and regional roads between January 1 and June 30 across the country.
READ: Barguna road crash kills two Chinese and their Bangladeshi interpreter
Shipping and Communication Reporters Forum (SCRF), a platform of journalists, prepared the report based on news carried by 22 national dailies, 10 regional newspapers and eight online news portals and news agencies.
12 killed as bus carrying migrants overturns in east Turkey
A minibus carrying migrants overturned and caught fire in eastern Turkey, killing 12 people and injuring 20 others, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Sunday.
The vehicle tumbled into a ditch while traveling overnight near Yumakli in Van province, which borders Iran.
Television broadcasts showed groaning survivors being treated by the roadside as emergency workers sifted through the burnt-out wreckage.
Also read: Bus runs off road, killing 27 mineworkers in Peru
Migrants, mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, regularly cross the Iranian border into Turkey on foot before being ferried west to cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.
The planned U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has given added impetus to young men trying the mountainous route, according to Metin Corabatir, president of the Ankara-based Center for Asylum and Migration Studies.
Also read:10 killed in India road accident
In June 2020, more than 60 migrants drowned in Lake Van when their boat sank.
Out on joyride, woman raped by six on moving bus in Chattogram
Out on a joyride with a male acquaintance, a 21-year-old woman was allegedly held hostage and raped by six men on a moving bus in Mirsarai upazila of Chattogram.
All the six men, including the bus driver and helper, have been arrested from different parts of the district, police said on Saturday.
The crime occurred in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday morning, said officer-in-charge of Mirsarai Police Station, Mujibul Rahman.
READ: Rajshahi child rape & murder case accused shot dead
In her complaint to the police, the woman claimed that her male acquaintance took her out on Wednesday evening. The duo had boarded the bus from their native Sitakunda upazila.
However, when the bus reached the Hafiz Jute Mill area, the driver and the helper forced all passengers to get down. But they didn't let the woman and her acquaintance to get off. Subsequently, the duo, along with the four others, took turns to rape her.
The woman's ordeal didn't end there. She was forcibly taken to a house in the upazila and raped over the next 24 hours, according to the complaint.
On her complaint, police lodged a case and arrested the six men from different parts of Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas, and Chattogram city on Friday night.
The arrestees have been identified as Ashraful Islam, 23, Shahadat Hossain, 19, Nizamuddin Rana, 20, Belal Hossain, 23, Mohammad Ismail, 31, of Sitakunda upazila and Mohammad Sagar Hossain, 22, of Mirsarai upazila.
The woman, a garment factory worker, was sent to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital for a medical examination.
SM Rashidul Haque, superintendent of District Police, said, “We have taken the case seriously and six people were arrested in this connection."
Bangladesh's rape epidemic
Sexual assaults on women continue unabated in Bangladesh, despite the government introducing death penalty for rapes last year.
A police headquarters report, released recently, said that 26,695 rape cases were filed across the country in the past five years.
Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) data shows that 1,018 children were raped last year alone, but only 683 police cases had been filed. Also, 116 survivors were six years old or below.
Overall, 1,627 rape cases were reported last year and 53 of the women were killed by the perpetrators while 14 took their own lives, as per the data.
However, ASK's data is just the tip of the iceberg, according to aid agencies, who report that most women are too afraid to report rape.
READ: Nasir, Omi put on 5-day remand over ‘rape attempt’ on Pori Moni
In October 2020, the country was rocked by protests after a woman was allegedly attacked and raped in Noakhali.
In November last year, Bangladesh introduced capital punishment for rape, following days of protests against sexual violence against women in several cities across the country.
But human rights organisations say the move will not solve the country's rape crisis, as the survivors of the heinous crime are often stigmatised in the society.
Suspension of long-haul bus services makes people’s journeys arduous
No long-distance bus was allowed to leave or enter capital Dhaka on Tuesday as the government enforced tougher restrictions in an effort to beat the deadly Coronavirus.
As many people were not aware about the suspension of the bus services on long routes, they thronged Gabtoli, Syedabad and Abdullahpur bus terminals on Tuesday morning to catch buses to reach their destinations.
Some of them returned home after a long wait and some others were seen looking for alternative vehicles to move to their destinations.
Also read: Bus services resume in Bangladesh cities
The decision to suspend the bus services was taken on Monday night after announcing a strict lockdown in seven adjacent districts of Dhaka to stop the transmission of Coronavirus amid rising infections in different districts, as it is believed to have been caused by Delta variant.
The districts are Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Madaripur, Rajbari and Gopalganj districts.
Akhter Hossain, traffic inspector at Uttara's Rajlakkhi, said Gazipur is one of the seven districts where lockdown has been enforced. No long-route bus left the city for Mymensingh and neither one came from that district.
Also read: Govt mulls resuming public transport services
AC (traffic-Dasus Salam) Iftekharul Islam said as Manikganj district has gone under lockdown, no bus from the southern part of the country neither entered nor left Dhaka. Only the movement of vehicles providing emergency services is allowed.
AC (traffic-Jatrabari) Tariqul Islam Masud said the movement of long-route buses on Dhaka-Mawa highway remained halted since Tuesday as Munsiganj district is under lockdown.
The movement of long-route buses on Dhaka-Chattogram highway remained halted as Narayanganj went under lockdown.
The lockdown in the seven districts will remain in force until June 30 midnight.
However, emergency services like transportation of agricultural equipment and inputs (seeds, fertilizer, insecticides, agri-machinery), crops, food items, relief activities, health services, Covid-19 vaccination, water, power, gas, fire service, port activities, telephone, internet services, mass media (electronic and print), private security services, postal services and offices related to emergency services, their employees, vehicles will remain out of the purview of the restrictions, says an official circular issued in this regard.
Bus plunges into canal in Sunamganj, one dead, 5 injured
A man in his early 20s died while five others sustained injuries after a passenger bus veered off the road and plunged into a canal in Sunamganj district on Tuesday morning, police said.
The identity of the deceased is yet to be established, cops said.
The accident occurred near Joykolosh mor on Sunamganj-Sylhet Road around 9 am.
Also read: Bus plunge in Gopalganj leaves 4 dead
According to police and eye-witnesses, the Sunamganj-bound speeding bus fell into the roadside canal after its driver lost control of the vehicle following a collision with a car while overtaking.
Police and fire services personnel rescued the passengers of the ill-fated bus, after being alerted by passersby. While one body was fished out of the canal, the injured are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Also read: 2 killed in Chattogram bus plunge
Sub-inspector of South Sunamganj police station, Debashish Sutradhar, said efforts are on to identify the deceased passenger.
Fire services staff are also trying to fish out the bus from the canal, he said.
3 killed in Bogura road crash
A couple and their new born granddaughter were killed and three others injured when a bus collided head-on with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in the district on Saturday.
The deceased were identified as Ashraf Ali, 50, his wife Parul Khatun, 45, and their one-and-half-months old granddaughter Rezwan.
READ: 7 killed, 22 injured in three road accidents in Chattogram, Rangamati
The accident occurred at Hathibanddha of Shibganj Upazila around 9 am when the Rangpur-bound bus of ‘Ahsan Paribahan’ from Dhaka had a head-on collision with the Bagura-bound auto-rickshaw.
The three were killed on the spot, said sub-inspector of Shibganj Police Station Mizan.
The three injured were taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital, he said.
Fatal road accidents are common in Bangladesh.
READ: 4 killed in Bhola road accident
Road accidents during last Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, said Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Shamiti.
Bus runs off road, killing 27 mineworkers in Peru
A bus carrying mineworkers ran off a road in the Peru on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead, according to local officials and the mining company.
Fire Department Lt. Hugo Meza said the accident in the province of Lucanas left dead and injured passengers scattered along the hillside. At least 13 workers were injured.
We are all devastated by this news and we have already started a thorough investigation,” said Ignacio Bustamante, chief executive officer of London-based Hochschild Mining. “However, our immediate priorities are to support those involved in the accident and their families and to work together with the relevant authorities.”
READ: 7 killed, 22 injured in three road accidents in Chattogram, Rangamati
Police said they did not immediately know why the accident occurred.
Those aboard the bus were heading from the Pallancata gold and silver mine to the city of Arequipa.
READ: 10 killed in India road accident
Rape on moving bus in Savar: 5 put on remand
A Dhaka court on Saturday placed five men on a three-day remand in a case filed over rape of a 26-year-old woman on a minibus at Nabinagar in Savar .
Senior Judicial Magistrate Shahzadi Tahmida passed the order after sub-inspector Mohammad Ziaul Islam, also investigating officer of the case, produced the accused before the court .
The court also recorded the confessional statement of Sumon Mia , the driver of the minibus and also an accused.
Those remanded are Md Ariyan 18, Md Saju ,20,Monowar Hossain 24, Sohag 25, and Saiful Islam 40.
Also read: 26-yr-old returning home raped by six on bus in Savar
Earlier on Friday night, the woman while returning home with an acquaintance was allegedly raped by six men on a minibus in Savar.
All the six accused, including the driver and the helper of the bus, were arrested after the woman raised an alarm.
Sazzad Karim, officer-in-charge of Highway Police Station, said on Saturday that the woman, a garment factory worker, went to Manikganj from Chashara of Narayanganj on Friday morning.
In the evening, she boarded a Narayanganj-bound bus. When the bus reached Nabinagar in Ashulia, the woman and her acquaintance got off and boarded a minibus to reach Narayanganj.
"The six accused were already on the bus. The driver suddenly stopped the bus near DC Nursery and tied up the woman and her male acquaintance with a rope. Later, they took turns to rape her," the OC said.
Also read: Case filed over rape of Bangladeshi woman by compatriots in India
However, the girl showed her presence of mind and raised an alarm. Hearing her screams, a police patrol team confronted the accused and rescued her from their clutches. "All the six have been arrested," the officer said.
An FIR for rape has been filed at Ashulia Police Station against the accused, on a complaint by the woman.
"She has been sent to the one-stop crisis centre at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital," the OC added.