Four people were killed and ten others injured following a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a battery-operated auto-rickshaw on the Jamalpur-Mymensingh highway.
The accident occurred around 8:00 pm on Monday, 31 August, in the Laherikanda area of Jamalpur Sadar Upazila.
The deceased have been identified as Jalal Uddin, 60, son of the late Yunus Ali from Baitkamari village; Makbul Hossain, 65, son of the late Atahar Ali from Tulsipur; Saddam Hossain, 30, also from Baitkamari; and Rubel Miah, 43, a resident of Bajrapur in Jamalpur town who worked as the bus driver’s assistant. The identities of the injured victims could not be immediately verified, though several remain in critical condition.
Eyewitnesses reported that a Dhaka-bound bus operated by Rajib Paribahan left Jamalpur municipal town earlier in the evening. As it reached the Laherikanda area, the speeding vehicle struck an oncoming battery-powered auto-rickshaw. The bus driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to overturn onto the highway and crush the auto-rickshaw underneath. Two occupants of the auto-rickshaw and two individuals on the bus died at the scene.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the location to extract the victims trapped underneath the overturned wreckage. The bodies were recovered and subsequently transported to the Jamalpur General Hospital morgue for autopsy procedures.
Local residents expressed severe frustration over the incident, alleging that reckless driving by Rajib Paribahan buses has turned the stretch into an accident-prone zone. Following the collision, angry crowds blocked the highway to protest against repeated transport casualties and demand accountability for reckless drivers.
The blockade, combined with the overturned bus blocking the road, completely halted vehicular movement on the arterial route, creating tailbacks stretching several kilometres on both sides. Traffic flow was restored around 10:00 pm after police dispersed the protesters and cleared the damaged vehicles from the highway.
Officer-in-Charge of Jamalpur Sadar Police Station, Najmus Sakib, confirmed the four fatalities and noted that several injured individuals were receiving medical treatment. He added that police forces managed the traffic situation, seized the vehicles involved, and would initiate formal legal proceedings upon receiving a written complaint from the victims’ families.
