At least 19 killed in Bangladesh bus crash

Up to 25 people were injured after the bus crashed through a highway fence and tumbled into a ditch on the side of the road, police said.

At least 19 people have been killed and up to 25 injured after a bus crashed into a highway fence and into a ditch in Bangladesh.

Police said the driver lost control at 8am (02:00 GMT) Sunday and crashed into the railing of a recently constructed major highway, sending a bus carrying more than 40 passengers into a 9-meter He said he suspected he had fallen into a (30 feet) ditch. .

“The death toll has risen to 19. At least 12 were seriously injured. They have been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the capital,” said local police after the crash in the southern district of Sibucha. Chief Masud Alam told AFP news agency.

The death toll could rise further if some of the injured passengers are in critical condition, said Anowar Hossain, a police official in Sibuchar, where the crash occurred.

The city is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.

Road accidents are common in Bangladesh due to old, poorly maintained vehicles and roads and untrained drivers. Road fatalities are on the rise even though the government says it will reduce fatalities by 50% by 2030.

last July, about 400 died Nearly twice as many were injured in more than 300 road accidents in the two weeks before and after Eid al-Adha in Bangladesh.

According to the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh, the number of road fatalities in Bangladesh set a record of 9,951 last year.