Road accidents claim 18 lives in 3 dists

Dhaka – Eighteen people were killed in three road accidents in Chuadanga, Khulna and Sirajganj districts on Sunday.In Chuadanga, a fatal road accident at Joyrampur Battala on Chuadanga-Jessore road in Damurhuda upazila in the early hours left 13 day-labourers and 10 others injured.The deceased are Billal, 45, Rafiqul, 50, Lal Mohammad, 45, Abdar Ali, 45, Billal Hossain, 39, Akubbar Mandal, 52, Ijjat Ali, 55, Nazir Uddin, 57, Shanto, 25, Hafizur Rahman, 35, Shafiqul Islam, 40, Jaj Miah, 34, and Shahin, 31, residents of Boro Baldia village in the upazila.UNB agencyThe accident took place when a human hauler carrying 23-24 day-labourers collided with a sand-laden truck around 6:30am, killing eight of them on the spot and the rest injured, said M Kalimullah, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Damurhuda Circle).On information, firefighters from Chuadanga Fire Service and Civil Defence rescued the injured and sent them to hospitals, said the ASP. Two of the injured died at Sadar Hospital and another at Damurhuda upazila health complex while two others died on the way to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.Agitated people of the area seized the truck and vandalised it but the truck driver managed to flee. Saima Yunus, deputy commissioner of the district, said the district administration provided Tk 10,000 to the families of each deceased for burial and Tk 10,000 to each injured for treatment.In Khulna, four Hindu pilgrims were killed and 20 others injured as a Satkhira-bound bus skidded off Khulna-Satkhira Highway and plunged into a ditch at Baliakandi in Dumuria upazila around 5:10pm. The deceased are Laltu Sardar, 18, son of Biplab Sardar, Krishna Mandal, 20, son of Debdas Mandal, Rajesh Sardar, 21, son of Chitta Sardar, and Golak Mistri, 25, son of Tushar Mistri, residents of Munshiganj village in Shaymnagar upazila of Satkhira district. The victims were returning home after attending a religious programme at Orakandi in Kashiani upazila of Gopalganj district, said officer-in-charge of Dumuria Police Station Subhash Biswas.The injured were taken to Dumuria Upazila Health Complex, he said.In Sirajganj, Rawshan Ali, 55, of Satbaria village in Ullapara upazila, was crushed under the wheels of a speeding bus while crossing Bogra-Nagarbari Highway around 12pm, said police.