DHAKA: The owners, drivers and helpers of Keya Paribahan, Othoi Paribahan and Hanif Paribahan were sued for Monday’s Natore road crash that claimed 36 lives.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) filed the case as per recommendations of the probe committee.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader made the disclosure while talking to journalists at his secretariat office on Thursday.

The minister also said the owners, drivers and helpers of Keya Paribahan, Othoi Paribahan and Hanif Paribahan were sued as per the report the probe body submitted on Wednesday.

Obaidul Quader said the death toll rose as a bus of Hanif Paribahan ran over several injured who were kept lying on the road after the accident.

The ruling Awami League lawmaker said, for the first time, a probe body submitted its report within the stipulated time.

He also blamed Othoi Paribahan for “overtaking” and “overloading of passengers” on its bus for the accident.

He also claimed that the Othoi Paribahan’s bus used a fake number plate as it did not have any fitness certificate.

The minister also told the newsmen that the driver of Keya Paribahan is alive though the driver of Othoi Paribahan’s bus was killed.

He also announced that each family of the deceased would be given Tk 100,000.

On October 20, some 36 people were killed and 44 others were injured in a head-on collision between two buses of Keya Paribahan and Othoi Paribahan in Rejur Morh area in Baraigarm upazila of Natore district.

Natore district administration formed a five-member probe committee following the accident.

BDST: 1645 HRS, OCT 23, 2014