Supervisor ‘at wheel’ as Natore bus crash kills 12

A bank officer lay injured in a Natore hospital on Tuesday, repeatedly asking where her husband and children were.

Her husband and eight-year-old daughter had been killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck that left 12 dead and 20 injured.

A surviving passenger said the bus supervisor was driving when the vehicle crashed in Baraigram upazila early on the day.

Ramzan Ali, who was sitting a seat behind the driver, said the crew changed places before the crash.

“After the bus reached Ishwardi, the driver and helper moved to the back and the supervisor began driving. About an hour later, the bus crashed,” said Ramzan, who is undergoing treatment at Bonpara Patwari Hospital.

The crash occurred around 4am on the Natore-Pabna highway in front of Bonpara Police Investigation Centre at Sarkarpara, in Baraigram upazila. 

The bus, an "An RP Special Paribahan" service from Barguna to Chapainawabganj, collided with a sand-laden truck, said Shamim Hossain, sub-inspector of Bonpara police outpost.

Nine people from the bus and the truck died on the spot, and the rest died later while undergoing treatment, he said. 

A number of the injured are in critical condition.

Among the dead were five traders from Jajira upazila in Shariatpur, who had left home for Taherpur in Rajshahi on business. They were Juel Madbar, 40, son of Zahir Uddin Madbar of Ramkrishnapur Madbarkandi; Shalal Molla, 45, son of Jahan Uddin Molla of Dubisaybar Mollakandi; Sohag Sikder, 30, son of Yunus Sikder of Dubisaybar Kazirhat; Samad Fakir, 65, son of Arab Ali Fakir of Dubisaybar; and Shahin Bepari, 30, son of Razzak Bepari of Kathuria in Palerchar union.

Their families said all five had long done business in and around Kazirhat. They were heading to Rajshahi to buy onions, garlic, coriander and other farm produce for local markets.

Others identified among the dead include truck driver Abul Kalam Azad, 32, and bus supervisor Sohel Rana, 36, both of Godagari in Rajshahi; Anwar Haque, 30, of Konopara in Bagmara, Rajshahi; and Shahidul Islam, 40, and his daughter Tashfia Khatun, 8, of Subidkhali in Mirzaganj, Patuakhali.

Shahidul's wife Rubina, 36, a senior officer at Pubali Bank's Subidkhali branch, was travelling with him and their two children to her elder sister's home in Rajshahi for the Puja holidays. 

Shahidul was a credit manager at BRAC Bank's Magura branch, and Tashfia was a third-grader. Rubina and their son Labib Hossain, 10, a fifth-grader, are critically injured and are undergoing treatment at Natore Sadar Hospital and a private clinic.

Rubina's brother-in-law Shahidur Rahman, an Eastern Bank officer in Pathanpara of Rajshahi, said the couple had recently returned from Umrah.

"They wanted to spend the Puja holidays at our home. All plans have been shattered," he said.

"Rubina lay in pain, repeatedly asking where her husband and children were," Shahidur said. Until afternoon, the family had no word on what had happened to Shahidul and Tashfia.

The sub-inspector said a Fire Service rescue team reached the scene after being informed and began a rescue operation. 

As the bus was mangled in the crash, rescuers struggled to free the passengers trapped inside. 

The injured were sent to hospitals including Baraigram Upazila Health Complex, Natore Sadar Hospital and Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Natore Fire Service Station Officer Akhter Hossain confirmed that almost all the dead and injured were passengers of the bus.

Natore Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Shariful Haque, Bogura Region Highway Police SP Md Sharif Uddin and the officer-in-charge of Baraigram police station confirmed the deaths and injuries.

Whip Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, Natore-4 MP Abdul Aziz, Deputy Commissioner Mosammat Sumoni Akter and SP Shariful Haque visited the spot.

The district administration has formed a seven-member probe committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Abul Hayet, to determine the cause of the crash.

Twelve years ago, on the same date in 2014, a road crash in Baraigram upazila killed 35 people. 

A Dhaka-to-Rajshahi bus operated by "Keya Paribahan" collided with an "Athoi Paribahan" bus travelling from Natore to Gurudaspur on the Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway.

At least 423 people were killed and 674 others injured in 442 road crashes across Bangladesh in September, an average of 14 deaths a day, according to the Road Safety Foundation.