According to information published in the country’s mass media last March, 616 road accidents resulted in 619 deaths and 1,548 injuries. During this month, 45 railway accidents caused 54 deaths and 229 injuries. This information was released in a press statement signed by Md. Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, Secretary General of Jatri Kalyan Samiti, on Saturday (April 4).
A total of 616 road accidents occurred, resulting in 619 fatalities and 1,548 injuries. Motorcycle accidents accounted for 222 incidents, leading to 237 deaths and 197 injuries. This represents 36.03 percent of total accidents, 38.61 percent of fatalities, and 12.72 percent of injuries. Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of road accidents, with 160 incidents causing 170 deaths and 320 injuries. Barishal Division had the fewest road accidents, with 30 incidents resulting in 27 deaths and 122 injuries.
On railways, 45 accidents resulted in 54 deaths and 229 injuries. On waterways, 9 accidents caused 9 deaths, 19 injuries, and 3 missing persons.
Among those injured and killed in road accidents, there were 9 law enforcement members, 157 drivers, 90 pedestrians, 17 transport workers, 68 students, 15 teachers, 78 women, 86 children, 3 doctors, 4 journalists, one freedom fighter, one lawyer, 3 engineers, and 13 political activists. Among the deceased were 5 police personnel, one Ansar member, one BGB member, one fire service member, one doctor, one freedom fighter, 150 drivers of various vehicles, 84 pedestrians, 74 women, 82 children, 67 students, 12 transport workers, 14 teachers, one lawyer, 3 engineers, and 9 political activists.
During this period, 975 vehicles were involved in road accidents. Motorcycles constituted 26.76 percent, trucks-pickups-covered vans and lorries 21.64 percent, buses 13.84 percent, battery-powered rickshaws and easybikes 14.56 percent, CNG-run auto-rickshaws 7.28 percent, Nasiman-Kariman-Mahindra-Tractor and Laguna 8.41 percent, and cars-jeeps-microbuses 7.48 percent.
Analyzing the types of accidents, it was observed that 32.46 percent were due to being run over or hit by a vehicle, 37.66 percent were head-on collisions, 21.42 percent involved losing control and falling into a ditch, 7.14 percent were due to miscellaneous reasons, 0.32 percent involved clothes getting caught in wheels, and 0.97 percent were train-vehicle collisions.
Based on the location of accidents in this month, 40.90 percent occurred on national highways, 30.03 percent on regional highways, 22.07 percent on feeder roads, 5.51 percent in Dhaka Metropolitan Area, 0.48 percent in Chattogram Metropolitan Area, and 0.97 percent at railway crossings.
The press statement also mentioned that the actual number of casualties might be significantly higher than the figures published in the media. This data was collected by the Accident Monitoring Cell of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samiti through media observation.
