Road accidents kill 231 children in three months

At least 231 children aged one month to 17 years were killed in road accidents in the last three months since January across the country, according to a rights group's report published on Wednesday.

Children are being killed in road accidents at an alarming rate due to mismanagement in the road and road transport sector and lack of awareness about traffic laws, said the Sheba Bangladesh Foundation in its report prepared based on the local newspapers and other forms of media.

The analysis based on 11 national dailies, 13 national and regional online news portals and electronic media said that 113 children (48.91 per cent) were killed as passengers and drivers or helpers of various vehicles and 118 children (91.08 per cent) were killed as pedestrians when they were hit or run by various vehicles.

Analysis as per types of the roads where children were killed shows that 52 children (22.51 per cent) were killed on highways, 85 children (36.79 per cent) on regional roads, 56 children (24.24 per cent) on rural roads and 38 children (16.45 per cent) on city roads.

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