Road accidents claim six lives

At least six people, including a woman and her daughter, were killed in separate road accidents in Noakhali and Cumilla yesterday.

Of the deceased, five died in the accident in Noakhali. They are Khadiza Begum, 40, her 24-year-old daughter Kamrunnahar Poly, Shakil, 19, Maulana Raju Ahmmed, 35, and CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver Azad. They all were from Begumganj upazila of the district.

The accident occurred as a passenger bus collided head-on with the auto-rickshaw on Chowmuhani-Maijdee Road near the upazila's Ekhlaspur Bazar  around 3:00pm.

All the victims were in the auto-rickshaw, said police, who seized the bus but could not arrest the driver and his helper.

The bodies were sent to Noakhali General Hospital for autopsies, said Firoz Hossain Mollah, officer-in-charge of Begumganj Police Station.

In Cumilla, a commuter was crushed under the wheels of a recklessly driven bus at Alekharchar bus stop on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway around 11:30am yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Sharifa Akhter Bristi, 18, daughter of Shariful Islam, of Nandail upazila in Mymensingh.

Witnesses and police said two buses were racing recklessly for passengers. The victim was waiting at the stop for a bus to Dhaka. At one stage, the bus of Al Baraka Paribahan lost control and ran her over.

Both the driver and the helper fled immediately, but police seized the bus, said Sirajul Islam, sub-inspector of Mainamati Crossing Highway Police Station.

Talking to reporters, witness Mostofa, who runs a local shop,      said the accident occurred due to reckless driving and blamed the driver     for it.

Our Noakhali and Cumilla correspondents contributed to the article.