Death toll rises to four as bus crashes into parked dump truck

The death toll from a bus crash into the rear of a dump truck parked by the roadside in Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur has risen to four.

At least 14 others, including women, were injured in the accident and admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

The accident occurred around 6:00am on Wednesday on the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway in the Bairagiganj area of Mithapukur upazila.

Three of the deceased were identified as Mozaffar Rahman, 35, and Golapi Begum, 48, both residents of Phulbari upazila in Kurigram, and bus helper Apel Mahmud, 25, a resident of Ulipur upazila. The identity of the fourth victim could not be known immediately.

Moazzem Uddin, officer-in-charge of Bardarga Highway Police Station, confirmed the deaths.

Police and local sources said a dump truck loaded with soil was parked in front of a shrine mosque opposite Shah Amanat Filling Station in Bairagiganj after Fajr prayers.

At the time, a passenger bus of Khan Enterprise, travelling from Dhaka to Bhurungamari in Kurigram, crashed into the rear of the parked truck at high speed, killing one passenger on the spot.

Following the accident, police, firefighters and local residents rescued the injured passengers from the bus and took them to Rangpur Medical College Hospital, where three more people died while undergoing treatment.

OC Moazzem Uddin said four people had died in the accident — one at the scene and three after being taken to the hospital.

The injured are undergoing treatment at the hospital, he said, adding that the death toll could rise further.