Road accidents during this Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, even though long-haul buses were off the road due to Covid-19 lockdown, said Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Shamiti on Sunday. At least 318 road crashes occurred during May 7- 21 period, the passenger welfare forum revealed while presenting its road accident report-2021 at a press briefing here. The report also said 622 people were injured in road accidents during the period when lakhs of people hit the road to celebrate the Eid festival with their families in village homes. The Eid was celebrated on May 14 during the Covid-19 lockdown. Also read: 249 lives lost on the road during Eid holidays The number of road crashes usually increase as people’s movement surges during such festival.  According to the report, the number of both deaths and accidents on the road increased this year. Due to lockdown, public transports remained suspended, but the holidaymakers packed private cars, microbuses, motorcycles, auto rickshaws, trucks, pick-up vans and covered vans. The report also stated that among the deceased, 35 were women, 22 children, 69 pedestrians and 31 transport workers, and 96 drivers.    Also read: Rab member, another killed in Gazipur road accident According to the report, like other years accidents on motorcycles were at top recording 139 deaths in 144 accidents this year. This accounts for 45.28% of the total accidents and 43.03 % of the total deaths recorded. About 32.28 percent accidents took place in national highways, 40.88 percent in regional highways, 22.32 percent in feeder roads, the report stated analyzing the types of accidents. Members of the road accidents monitoring cell of the forum prepared the report collecting information from widely published and trustworthy national, regional, daily newspapers and online portals in the 15 days. Also read: Rickshaw puller killed in city road crash Of the total accidents 3.14% occurred in Dhaka and 1.25% in Chattogram. The report also mentioned 331 people died and 772 sustained injuries in 322 accidents occurring jointly on the country's road, rail and waterways. “Movement of only 8 to10 percent of the population caused so many accidents and deaths only due to negligence of the concerned authority and organizations liable for road safety,” said Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, general secretary of the Jatri Kalyan Samity. He strongly demanded that the government prioritizes the road safety and take necessary measures. Also read: Road accidents in Bangladesh claim 468 lives in April Public transport expert and director of FBCCI, Abdul Haque said, “transport owners face graft  and suffer a lot when they go to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) for fitness tests or other services”. Thus lead to an increase in the movement of unfit vehicles, he said

The number of deaths in road crashes during the Eid holiday rush increased during the just concluded Eid ul Fitr, despite a ban on inter-district bus operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, two civic bodies said Tuesday. At least 249 people were killed and 385 others were injured in 207 road crashes over the 12 days till Monday, as people rushed to travel home and come back to Dhaka, according to a report jointly prepared by Green Club of Bangladesh (GCB) and National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways. The report covers the period between May 6 and May 17. The report also stated that among the deceased, 35 were women, 29 children, 23 pedestrians and 27 transport workers, including drivers.    Also read: Rab member, another killed in Gazipur road accident Both accidents and deaths increased during this Eid-ul Fitr's holidays from the last Eid-ul Azha, the report observed.

Two people, including a woman, were killed after a truck collided head-on with an auto-rickshaw in Murailipur of Paba upazila in Rajshahi on Wednesday afternoon. One of the deceased was identified as Ansar Ali, 40, while the identity of the woman could not be known immediately. Rajshahi Fire Service and Civil Defence Senior Station Officer Abdur Rauf said a Chapainawabganj-bound truck hit an auto-rickshaw at 2:45pm, killing two people on the spot and injuring two others. Also read: 7 dead, 10 injured in four different road accidents across the country Police have recovered the bodies from the spot, he said. Road accidents in Bangladesh Road accidents in Bangladesh claim hundreds of lives every year. At least 484 people were killed and 673 others injured in as many as 427 road accidents in January this year. According to Road Safety Foundation (RSF), the accident rate increased by 25.58 percent while fatalities rose by 8.76 percent in January compared to the same period last year. Also Read: Bangladesh's roads remain perilous; 37,170 killed in 5 years At least 445 lives were lost in 340 road accidents in January 2020, according to RSF. In a report released in February last year, the World Bank said Bangladesh needs to 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 a lack of investment in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes.

A woman died after being crushed between  two vehicles while crossing the road in front of Gulistan Golap Shah Mazar in the capital on Sunday.

At least 2 persons were killed in separate road crashes in Sitakunda.

At least seven persons have been killed and 10 more got injured in four different road accidents in different parts of the the country on Saturday.

A collision between a bus and an easy-bike Saturday on the Khulna-Satkhira Highway killed three people.

A man was killed and his son was injured after he lost control over his motorcycle in Airport area of Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Monday afternoon.

At least 484 people were killed and 673 injured in 427 road accidents throughout the country in January this year.