399 road crashes claim 407 lives during Eid

FE Team | Published: April 30, 2024 19:12:03

As many as 407 people died and 1,398 were injured in 399 road accidents during Eid-ul-Fitr journeys, reports bdnews24.com.
Another 24 people were killed and 21 injured in 18 railway crashes. Two crashes on water routes left seven people injured and five dead.
A total of 438 people were killed and 1,424 injured in these accidents during the Eid holiday on the country's roads, railways and water routes, according to a report by the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh's road accident monitoring cell.
Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the association, presented the report at a press briefing at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Saturday.
The report covered the 15 days from Apr 4 to Apr 28, around the Eid holiday.
Due to the extended holiday, 20 per cent more people made trips this year than the estimate made by the association. The speed of the vehicles has also increased due to the development of roads and highways across the country, the road accident monitoring cell said.
Around 7.5 per cent of total passengers travelled on motorcycles as the vehicle was free to use all roads and highways, along with the Padma Bridge.
Anarchy over additional transport fares and harassment of passengers had reached its peak this year despite measures taken by the various state-run regulatory and law enforcement agencies, the PWAB said.
The Eid holidaymakers had to travel on bus and train roofs, open trucks and freight vehicles, which endangered their lives, the organisation said.
In 2023, as many as 328 people were killed and 565 others injured in 304 road accidents during Eid-ul-Fitr trips. Compared to last year, the number of road accidents, deaths and injuries this year rose by 31.25 percent, 24.08 percent and 147.43 percent respectively.
According to the report, motorcycles topped the list of vehicles involved in the crashes. A total of 165 people died and 240 were wounded in 198 motorcycle crashes during this Eid, which accounts for 49.62 percent of total accidents, 40.54 percent of total deaths and 30.37 percent of total injuries.
The PWAB road accident monitoring cell prepared the report by monitoring news published in popular and reliable national and regional daily news outlets, including data on 608 patients wounded in accidents out of 685 at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, popularly known as Pongu Hospital.