At least 14 people were killed and several others critically injured in a series of fatal road accidents across the country on Monday.
The casualties resulted from separate collisions involving speeding buses, trucks, and auto-rickshaws in Sunamganj, Mymensingh, Tangail, Natore, and Gopalganj.
The highest number of fatalities occurred in Sunamganj, where six people, including a woman, died in separate crashes. The deadliest incident took place on the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway in the Jalalpur area, where a speeding passenger bus collided head-on with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw.
The sheer force of the impact sent both vehicles plunging into a roadside ditch, reducing the auto-rickshaw to a mangled wreck. Two passengers died on the spot, while three others succumbed to their injuries after being rushed to the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital. Another victim remains in critical condition.
In Mymensingh, four people lost their lives and two others were injured when a truck rammed into an auto-rickshaw in the Muktagacha area on the Mymensingh-Tangail highway shortly before noon. Three victims died at the scene. They were identified as 54-year-old senior lawyer Chowdhury Hosne Ara Begum, 38-year-old Farzana Akter Shiuli, and her 11-year-old daughter Khushnur Jannat Rinti.
A fourth unidentified victim later died while undergoing treatment at the Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
Four additional fatalities were reported in three other districts. In Tangail, an early morning collision between a truck and a pickup van on the Rabna bypass of the Dhaka-Tangail highway left two unidentified individuals dead and two others injured.
In Natore, a motorcyclist identified as Ashraful Islam was crushed to death by a sand-laden truck near a filling station in Lalpur upazila. The accident occurred around noon, just moments after he had dropped his mother off at a nearby intersection.
Meanwhile, in Gopalganj, a 45-year-old van driver named Jhantu Molla was killed and seven others were injured when a passenger bus ran over his vehicle on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Gopinathpur. Local highway police confirmed the casualties and secured the scene.
Authorities fear the overall death toll from Monday's accidents could rise, as several of the injured patients currently undergoing treatment at various local hospitals remain in critical condition.
