A total of 593 road accidents across Bangladesh in March killed 612 people and injured 1,246 others, according to a report by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association (BPWA).
The report was published on Thursday (April 24) and signed by BPWA Secretary General Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury.
The report was published based on news reports from national, regional and online media. It also includes rail and waterway accidents, bringing the total number of transport-related accidents to 641. These incidents left 664 people dead and 1,253 injured.
Out of the 641 incidents, road accidents were the highest, accounting for 593 deaths and most of the injuries.
The report said in 40 rail accidents 34 people were killed and six injured, while eight waterway accidents caused 18 deaths and one injury.
Motorcycles were involved in 227 of the road accidents, resulting in 251 deaths and 208 injuries. These incidents accounted for 38.27% of total accidents and 41.01% of all deaths reported.
Dhaka division recorded the highest number of road accidents with 148 cases, causing 150 deaths and 364 injuries. The lowest was in Barishal division with 31 accidents, 31 deaths and 86 injuries.
Among the victims were 21 law enforcers, 147 drivers, 99 pedestrians, 85 transport workers, 81 students, 14 teachers, 113 women, 58 children, and several professionals including a lawyer, a journalist and a freedom fighter. The fatalities included members of the police, army, BGB, and political party activists.
A total of 910 vehicles involved in these accidents were identified. Among them, 29.78% were motorcycles, 23.73% were trucks, pickups, covered vans and lorries, and 11.86% were buses. Others included battery-run rickshaws, CNG auto-rickshaws, and smaller vehicles like cars and microbuses.
The main causes of accidents were vehicle run-overs (51.26%), head-on collisions (22.59%), loss of control (17.20%), and other reasons including entanglement of clothing and rail-vehicle collisions.
The locations of the accidents were also tracked, showing that 34.23% occurred on national highways, 23.44% on regional highways, and 37.26% on feeder roads. Urban accidents accounted for 3.54% in Dhaka, 0.67% in Chattogram, and 0.84% happened at rail crossings.
BDST: 1258 HRS, April 24, 2025
MSK
