Road accidents claim 10 lives in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — At least 10 people were killed and 40 others were injured in separate road accidents in Bangladesh on Sunday morning during a mad rush back from across the country to work in towns and cities after last week’s Muslims’ Eid and Hindus ‘ Durga Puja holidays.

Seven people were killed and 30 injured when a bus and truck collided head-on at Comilla district, some 96 km east of capital Dhaka, on Sunday morning, local sources said.

In a separate road accident also on Sunday morning in Feni district, some 149 km southeast of capital Dhaka, according to the local sources, three passengers of a bus died and ten others were injured when the driver of the vehicle lost control over the steering and crashed into a roadside tree.

The ill-fated passengers were reportedly on the way back to Dhaka and Chittagong, some 242 km southeast of the capital city, after celebrating Eid and Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus which was celebrated just a day before the Muslims’ Eid.

Muslims across Bangladesh Monday celebrated Eid-ul-Azha, also known as the Eid of animal sacrifice.

Millions of people, braving every conceivable discomfort on creaky and congested transport, went to their village homes to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha and Puja.

Apart from frequent accidents mainly caused by reckless driving, as in previous years, run-down roads have become a grave concern for the home-bound people this year.

At least 22 people were killed and over 50 others injured in separate road accidents in Bangladesh on the day of this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr, another biggest religious festival of Muslims, which was celebrated on July 29.

According to the latest study by the Accident Research Institute of the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology, some 2,000 to 3,000 people are killed in road accidents in the country every year, with about 75 percent fatalities occurring in rural areas.