Three people were killed and two others injured as a speeding truck crashed into a battery-run autorickshaw on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur’s Kaliakair upazila on Monday (February 19, 2024) morning. The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately. Naojhor Highway police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahdat Hossain said the Tangail–bound truck hit the autorickshaw in Sutrapur area, leaving five people including the autorickshaw driver injured. Read: Bus-auto rickshaw collision leaves 7 people dead in Mymensingh Members of fire service and police rescued the injured and took them to Kaliakair upazila health complex where physicians declared three of them dead upon arrival. The rest were undergoing treatment at the hospital, he said, adding that all the victims were passengers of the autorickshaw. Read more: Bus-motorcycle collision leaves one dead in Faridpur

Gridlock was formed as vehicular movement on Dhaka-Tangail highway remained suspended for over an hour due to workers of garment factories demonstrating in Gazipur’s Konabari area, demanding payment of salaries as per the wages set by the government. Mohammad Ziaul Islam, officer-in-charge of Konabari Police Station, said workers of garment factories in the Konabari area took to the street around 8 am to press home their six-point demand including payment of salary as per the government-announced wage structure. Read: Focus on value addition in RMG industry needed more to enhance global competitiveness: BGMEA President  The other demands include an eight-hour workday instead of ten hours. A long tailback has been created on both sides of the Dhaka-Tangail highway following the demonstration. However, vehicular movement normalised as police drove the demonstrating workers away from the highway after assuring them of taking steps regarding their demands. Read: Despite anticipated challenges in 2024, int’l market demand for RMG products could rise: BGMEA Director  

Two people were killed on the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur Sunday after police said a truck mowed them down with their motorcycle. "It happened around 5pm near Kadda area under Konabari Police Station when the truck rammed into the motorcycle of Masud Hossain and Ruhul Hossain, killing them on the spot, "Abu Siddik, officer-in-charge of Konabari Police Station, said. Read: Worker killed in Chuadanga boiler blast Kaliakair upazila's Masud and Ruhul were returning home on their two-wheeler from Joydebpur when the truck hit their vehicle from behind. Both of them fell and died on the spot. The truck was seized but the driver and his assistant managed to flee. The bodies were sent to Shaheed Taj Uddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsies and a case will be filed in connection with the accident, the OC said.  

Commuters returning to Dhaka after Eid holidays had to endure a 20km-long tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangbandhu Bridge Highway in the district on Saturday morning. Vehicles began piling up on the high-speed corridor on Friday night. By this morning, traffic on the highway almost came to a standstill, triggering the long tailback. Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga highway Police, attributed the tailback stretching from Bangabandhu Bridge point to Jolfoi point on the highway to heavy pressure of Dhaka-bound vehicles. Also read: Gazipur gridlocked: Traffic crawls on Dhaka-M’singh highway Our correspondent reports that the desperation to return to Dhaka prompted many to get off public transport vehicles, walk a few kilometres and then hitchhike on passing bikes to reach the capital. The highway police and the district police are working together to bring the traffic situation under control, said Ataur.  

Commuters heading home ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha had to suffer through a 35km-long tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangbandhu Bridge Highway in the district on Saturday. What began as usual snarls on the high-speed corridor late on Friday night turned into monster jams by this morning -- all due to a mad rush of vehicles carrying home-bound people and sacrificial animals ahead of the festival. Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga Highway Police, attributed the 35km-long tailback to some unruly motorists "who have scant regard for traffic rules". "The highway police and the district police are working jointly to bring the traffic situation under control.” The tailback triggered jams on many internal roads of the district -- the stretch near Government Shamsul Haque College being one of the worst hit with some motorists trying to use it as an alternative route to reach their destinations. At few other places, jams intensified as few motorists tried to reverse their vehicles to take internal roads to bypass some stretches of the highway. Also read: Mawa-Bhanga expressway witnesses huge traffic snarl on first day of toll collection Unable to bear the sweltering heat, many women got off vehicles with their babies on the highway. Roadside mosques allowed passengers to use their toilets while local residents offered drinking water to the travellers. UNB Sirajganj Correspondent reports: A 15km-long gridlock was seen on the Bangabandhu Bridge Highway at Kaddar intersection, causing immense sufferings to the northern district-bound people a day before Eid. The tailback stretched from Golchattar to Nalka Bridge, forcing vehicles to crawl on the highway. Mosaddek Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge West Police Station, said "the heavy pressure of vehicles and home-bound people are responsible for the tailback". Law enforcers and volunteers have been working on the highway since morning to ease the gridlock, he added. Though the Eid vacation began on Saturday, a large number of people left the capital on Friday itself taking advantage of the long weekend.    

Workers of a sweater factory in Gazipur blocked the road protesting the factory authority’s decision to retrench workers.

More than five hundred workers of a garment factory demonstrated at Kashimpur in Gazipur on Sunday demanding payment of their wages of the last month.