Road Deaths Spike During Eid Holiday: Discrepancies Highlighted

The recent Eid-ul-Fitr holiday has seen a worrying surge in road fatalities, with stark discrepancies between official and independent figures raising questions over the accuracy of reported data.

According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), during the seven-day Eid holiday from 17 to 23 March, a total of 92 road accidents nationwide resulted in 100 deaths and 217 injuries. However, preliminary statistics from the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) paint a far grimmer picture, recording 268 accidents with at least 204 fatalities and over 600 injuries in the same period.

Observers note that many incidents are missing from official records. For instance, a severe bus accident at Paduar Bazaar railway crossing in Comilla, which killed 12 people, does not appear in BRTA’s 24-hour report for 21 March, leaving Comilla unlisted entirely.

Hospitals across the country, particularly in Dhaka, experienced a heavy influx of accident victims during the festive period. At the National Orthopaedic Hospital and Rehabilitation Institute, 151 patients arrived for treatment between the night before Eid and the following afternoon. Most injuries involved motorcycles, battery-powered rickshaws, and e-rickshaws, with other hospitals reporting similar surges.

Eid travel is generally considered over a 15-day window—seven days before Eid, the day of Eid itself, and seven days afterwards. By comparison, during the same period last year, 315 accidents caused 322 deaths, while in 2024, 372 accidents claimed 416 lives, marking a ten-year high.

The risk remains elevated as holiday travel continues in many sectors beyond 23 March. Daily BRTA figures for the seven-day period are as follows:

RSF Executive Director Saidur Rahman warned that these figures are preliminary and the total death toll may rise once comprehensive data is compiled, suggesting the potential for a new record in Eid-related road fatalities.

Meanwhile, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, General Secretary of the Passenger Welfare Association, noted that accidents typically increase when people return to work after the holiday, as road monitoring and law enforcement are comparatively reduced during this period.

The continuing divergence between official and independent statistics underscores the urgent need for more reliable reporting and stronger traffic safety enforcement to prevent further tragedies during festive seasons.