The identity of the victim, a covered van driver, could not be ascertained and seven critically burnt were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Witnesses said the accident took place when a Dhaka bound covered van carrying around 30 drums of chemical Venyle Acitate Monomar (a highly flammable chemical), collided head-on with a Chittagong bound truck loaded with poultry-feed from opposite direction near Sultana Jute Mill at Choto Kumira area under Sitakunda upazila at around 7:15am.

In the mean time, another Chittagong bound passenger bus from Feni collided with the two vehicles from behind in a few seconds as the driver lost control over steering that resulted in an explosion with a big bang, the jute mill workers said.

Fire engulfed the three vehicles that left the covered van driver burnt alive on the spot and 20 others injured.

Around fifteen passengers of the bus tried to come out quickly through the window but six of them were severely burnt.

The injured identified as covered van helper Md Masud, Obayedul Hasan, Morshed Alam, Md Mostafa, Farida Yasmin, her daughter Oishi and an unidentified person were admitted to CMCH at about 8:50am.

Of them, Masud and Oishi are in critical condition, CMCH sources said.

The chemical, carried by the covered van, which is highly combustible, might have been the main cause of the fire, said injured Obayedul, the area manager of Libra, a pharmaceuticals company, while talking to The Daily Star at ward no. 27 in CMCH.

According to the fire service, six fire fighting units from different fire stations of the city and the district rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire after two and half hours of efforts.

Due to the accident, vehicular movements in the both sides of the highway came to a halt for three hours.