At least three persons were killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Bogra-Nagarbari Highway in the Hailaghati area of Shahjadpur upazila of Sirajganj early on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Sakib, 17, son of Ajgar Ali, Rashedul, 26, son of Azad Hossain, and Ashik, 20, son of Amjad Ali.
Officer-in-Charge of Hatikumrul Highway police station, Shahjahan Ali said that the Nagarbari-bound truck hit the auto-rickshaw in the Hailaghati area after its driver lost control of the vehicle, killing the trio on the spot.
Police have seized the truck, but its driver and his assistant managed to flee, he said.
A case will be lodged at the police station, he added.
Road accidents in Bangladesh
Road accidents in Bangladesh continue to claim hundreds of lives every year.
At least 484 people were killed and 673 injured in 427 road accidents in January this year.
According to Road Safety Foundation (RSF), accident rates jumped by 25.58% and fatalities by 8.76% in January this year compared to the same period last year.
At least 445 lives were lost in 340 road accidents in January 2020, according to RSF.
In a report released in February 2020, the World Bank said that Bangladesh needed to invest an estimated extra $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 investments in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety program.
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