Two Easy-Bike Passengers Killed Under Bus Wheels on Dhaka-Aricha Highway, Locals Block Road in Protest

Two passengers of an easy bike were killed after being run over by a bus on the Dhaka-Aricha highway in Shibalaya, Manikganj. Two others were injured in the accident, which took place in front of the Barangail bus stand at around 10am on Thursday.

The dead were identified as Yasin (21) and Babul (28), both from Mouhali village in Ghior upazila. The injured are Md Shahan (50) of the same village and his wife Rozina Akter. Both injured victims were admitted to the Shibalaya Upazila Health Complex.

According to police and local sources, the easy bike carrying five passengers from Mouhali was crossing the Dhaka-Aricha highway when a Dhaka-to-Paturia bus of Selfie Paribahan, coming from behind, ran it over.

Yasin died on the spot. Babul, critically injured, was taken to Munnu Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Shahan and Rozina Akter are receiving treatment for their injuries.

Harun Or Rashid, officer-in-charge of Barangail Highway Police Station, said the bus was seized after the accident, but its driver and helper had fled. A case is being processed over the incident.

Angry locals blocked traffic on both sides of the highway after the crash, bringing vehicles on the busy road to a standstill, creating long tailbacks and severe suffering for passengers.

The protesters alleged that buses of the same operator, Selfie Paribahan, had been involved in fatal accidents before, including one at Pukhuria in Ghior. Despite repeated accidents, they claimed, no effective action had been taken against the transport company.

Locals said memorandums had even been submitted to the deputy commissioner after earlier accidents, demanding among other things the cancellation of the operator's permit. Their anger boiled over into the road blockade because, they said, lives were lost again under the wheels of the same company's bus.

The Dhaka-Aricha highway is one of the main arteries linking the capital with the southwestern districts, and traffic bound for the Paturia ferry terminal keeps it busy at all hours. Slow-moving easy bikes mixing with speeding buses on such highways frequently turn into fatal accidents.

Police said efforts were under way to arrest the absconding driver and his helper, and that legal proceedings would move forward based on the victims' families' complaints. The local administration and police held talks with residents to lift the blockade and restore traffic.

Preparations were made to hand over the bodies of Yasin and Babul to their families after legal formalities. The deaths of two young men from the same village cast a pall of grief over Mouhali, where relatives were left wailing in mourning.

Road accidents claim lives somewhere in the country almost every day. This incident has once again raised the complaint that repeated accidents involving the same operator, and repeated demands for action, bring no remedy. Residents demanded not just a case, but visible and effective measures against reckless transport operators, so that no more families lose their loved ones on the highway.