Two Killed as Covered Van Hits Easy Bike on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway

Two people, including the driver, were killed when an easy bike collided with a covered van on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Rupganj in Narayanganj. The accident occurred at around 11am on Thursday (22 October) in the Maikuli area of Tarabo municipality. Three other passengers on the easy bike were injured.

One of the dead is the easy bike driver, Rifat, 20, son of the late Jasim Uddin of the Maikuli area of Rupganj. The other victim is passenger Shahnaz Begum, 55, a resident of the same area and wife of Monir Hossain.

Inspector Jasim Uddin, in-charge of the Bhulta Highway Police Camp, said that at around 11am on Thursday, driver Rifat was carrying five passengers from Rupshi bus stand towards Maikuli.

On the way, when the easy bike reached the Maikuli area of the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, it collided with a covered van coming from the opposite direction. The head-on impact left the easy bike mangled.

Driver Rifat and passenger Shahnaz Begum died on the spot. On a busy, fast-moving highway, the collision involving a light vehicle such as an easy bike turned fatal within moments.

Three other passengers on the easy bike were injured in the accident. They were rescued and taken to a local hospital. No further details about the injured were given in the report.

Inspector Jasim Uddin also said the covered van and its driver were detained after the accident, opening the way for legal proceedings to begin immediately after the incident.

The highway police said legal action over the incident is under process. It is expected that questioning of the detained driver and examination of the vehicles will be used to establish the actual cause of the accident, although police have not yet given any specific information about the cause.

The Dhaka-Sylhet highway is the main road link between the capital and the districts of Sylhet Division. Alongside heavy vehicles, smaller vehicles used for local travel also use this road every day. Heavy and light vehicles sharing the same road raises the risk of head-on collisions of this kind — and the Maikuli incident is a tragic example of that risk.

The accident happened in daylight, at around 11am, when traffic on the highway is naturally heavier. In a collision with an oncoming vehicle at such a time, passengers of a light vehicle like an easy bike have almost no protection — as the deaths of two people on the spot in this incident have shown once again.

The deaths have cast a pall of grief over the families of the two victims and the local area. The sudden deaths of two residents of the same area are a heavy blow for the people of Maikuli as well. The three injured passengers are receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Attention will now be on the progress of the highway police's legal process. The full picture of this fatal collision will become clear once it is known what charges are brought against the detained driver and what the investigation finds as the cause of the accident.