Accidents claimed 440 lives on highways, waterways, and railways during the vacation season ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, said Jatri Kallyan Samity (JKS), a platform for road safety, on Tuesday.
Road accidents alone account for 398 deaths in 319 incidents, marking the highest death toll in last seven years during the celebration of Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of the Muslims.
Besides, some 25 people died in 25 accidents linked to railways and 17 died in 10 accidents on waterways, said JKS Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury at a press briefing organised at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) Executive Chairman Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Accident Research Institute (ARI) under Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Assistant Professor Kazi Md Saifun Newaz, Uttara Motors Chief Operating Officer Shahdat Hossain, among others, were also present at the programme.
In total of 354 accidents, around 774 people got injured in road crashes, two in railways, and 15 in waterways along with three missing individuals, Mr Chowdhury said.
The JKS prepared the report on accidents during the Eid journey analysing news reports published in between July 03 and July 17.
Mr Chowdhury said during the Eid-ul-Azha vacation, about 248 people died in 2016, 254 in 2017, 259 in 2018, 224 in 2019, 242 in 2020, and 273 in 2021.
"The journey during last Eid-ul Azha was the most fatal as it claimed lives of the highest number people comparing to last seven years," he added.
Comparing to Eid-ul-Azha in 2021, road accidents increased by 24.76 per cent while deaths jumped by 31.41 per cent, he also noted.
Besides, harassment of holidaymakers were seen in all modes of transportation as transport operators charged extra fare than usual, trains delayed, and traffic jams was seen mostly in northern district-bound highways, he said.
The platform identified over-speeding and overtaking as the key reasons behind the high number of road accidents during Eid.
The JKS also mentioned that over 12 million people left the capital city during last Eid-ul-Azha while another 40 million people went from one district to other to celebrate the occasion.
Like previous years, motorcycles account for the majority of the accidents (35.42 per cent) despite the government's directives on banning the movement of such vehicles on highways during the Eid.
A total of 131 people died in 113 motorcycle accidents across the country, the report showed.
Among the accidents, 32.91 per cent occurred on national highways, 46.70 per cent on regional roads, 15.91 per cent on feeder (connecting) roads, and 4.70 per cent in Dhaka metropolitan area.
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