Dhaka: A total of 754 individuals lost their lives, and 1,303 others sustained injuries in 732 transport-related accidents across Bangladesh in January, as reported by the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh (PWAB). The incidents spanned across railways, roadways, and waterways.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the PWAB, a non-political and non-profit voluntary organization, revealed these figures in a press statement, based on a survey conducted by its Accident Monitoring Cell. The survey analyzed news from 96 national, regional, online, and electronic media outlets in the country.
The report highlighted that the Dhaka division recorded the highest number of accidents, while the Mymensingh division experienced the lowest. Specifically, 677 fatalities and 1,271 injuries resulted from 659 road accidents. In railway incidents, there were 59 deaths and 23 injuries from 57 accidents.
Additionally, 18 people were reported dead, nine injured, and five went missing in 16 waterway accidents. Motorcycles were notably dangerous, with 301 fatalities and 239 injuries reported from 289 motorcycle accidents. Three-wheeler vehicles accounted for 139 deaths and 336 injuries in 163 accidents during the same period.
The PWAB’s report indicated that 41.60 percent of the total accidents were car crashes, 38.18 percent were head-on collisions, and 13.35 percent were due to vehicles losing control and falling into ditches. Other causes included various reasons at 6.16 percent and train-vehicle collisions at 0.69 percent.
The January accidents also resulted in the deaths of 16 law enforcement personnel, 382 drivers, 238 pedestrians, 188 workers, 151 students, 17 teachers, 171 women, 21 children, eight journalists, three doctors, 12 officials from government and private organizations, and 41 political party leaders and activists.