Nine people were killed and 40 others injured in a head-on collision between two passenger buses at new Sholeyasha Kharubhanj bridge point on the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway in Taraganj upazila Sunday midnight.
"The accident occurred when a passenger bus from Dhaka and another bus from Ranisonkoil in Thakurgaon hit each other from opposite directions there amid torrential rains," Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Rangpur Highway Circle Zahidur Rahman Chowdhury told BSS Monday.
Five persons were killed on the spot and four others succumbed to their injuries at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RpMCH) Monday morning. The deceased were passengers of both buses.
"The deceased were identified as Mohsin Hossain Sagar, 42, Anisur Rahman, 48, Anwar Hossain, 35, Dhononjoy Chandra Sen, 42, of Taraganj upazila in Rangpur, Mahbub, 30, and Aliul Hasan Jewell, 27, of Saidpur upazila in Nilphamari, Shahidul Islam, 40, of Shivalaya upazila in Manikganj, Nayan, 26, of Raipur upazila in Laksmipur and Sadek Ali, 56, of Gaibandha districts," ASP Chowdhury added.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Taraganj Highway police station Sheikh Mohammad Mahbub Morshed said personnel from Taraganj Fire Service and Civil Defense Station and police rushed to the spot amid heavy rains soon after the fatal road accident.
The fire service and civil defense personnel with assistance of police and local people rescued the injured persons and sent them to Taraganj Upazila Health Complex and RpMCH.
"The salvage operation of the two ill-fated passenger buses was completed within an hour despite inclement weather," the OC said, adding that normal traffic resumed on the highway from around 1:40 am.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md. Asib Ahsan, Superintendent of Highway Police for Bogura Region Munshi Shahabuddin and Superintendent of Police of Rangpur Md. Ferdous Ali Chowdhury have visited the spot and hospitals.
"The district administration has announced Taka 20,000 for each of the deceased persons and taken responsibility of ensuring proper treatments of the injured," the DC said while visiting the under-treatment patients at RpMCH.
A case was filed in this connection with Taraganj police station.
