Bangladesh Reports Nearly 600 Road Deaths in May

In May, Bangladesh saw a devastating toll on public safety, with a total of 614 people losing their lives and 1,196 sustaining injuries in 597 road accidents nationwide, according to a report by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity. The organization’s Accident Monitoring Cell compiled the data through media monitoring of reports published across national, regional, and online newspapers.

The report also highlighted 48 rail-related accidents, which resulted in 35 deaths and 14 injuries, and seven waterway accidents that caused nine fatalities, with ten individuals reported missing. Overall, a total of 652 accidents across roads, railways, and waterways claimed 658 lives and injured 1,210 people during the month.

Motorcycles were involved in 233 incidents, accounting for 39.02 percent of all accidents. These motorcycle crashes resulted in 256 deaths and 201 injuries, making them the leading cause of fatalities. The Dhaka division recorded the highest number of road accidents with 139 incidents, leading to 148 deaths and 271 injuries. Conversely, Barishal division experienced the fewest, with 30 accidents, 30 deaths, and 44 injuries.

The report, signed by Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, the organization’s Secretary General, emphasized that the findings were based on accident reports from various media outlets.

Among the victims were 154 drivers, 103 pedestrians, 92 students, 88 women, 67 transport workers, 58 children, 37 journalists, seven law enforcement officers, five teachers, two doctors, one freedom fighter, and seven political activists. Fatalities included two police personnel, one army member, one fire service official, two doctors, one freedom fighter, 142 drivers, 95 pedestrians, 66 students, 59 women, 54 children, 34 transport workers, five teachers, and seven political activists.

The report identified 945 vehicles involved in crashes, with motorcycles making up 29.41 percent of these, followed by trucks, pickup vans, and lorries at 22.53 percent. Other vehicles included battery-run rickshaws and easy bikes at 14.17 percent, buses at 12.48 percent, locally modified vehicles at 9.31 percent, CNG auto-rickshaws at 6.66 percent, and private cars, jeeps, and microbuses at 5.39 percent.

Regarding causes, nearly half of the accidents 49.07 percent were run-over incidents. Head-on collisions accounted for 24.95 percent, while loss of control leading to vehicles plunging into ditches represented 20.10 percent. Other factors included miscellaneous reasons at 5.02 percent, scarf entanglements at 0.33 percent, and train-vehicle collisions at 0.50 percent.