204 dead on roads during 7-day Eid, Govt figures questioned

The picture of road accidents during the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday has taken a worrying turn. There is a big difference between official and private statistics, raising questions about the reliability of the data.

The government agency Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said that 100 people were killed and 217 injured in 92 road accidents in the country during the seven-day Eid holiday (March 17-23). ​​However, according to the initial estimates of the private organization Road Safety Foundation, at least 204 people were killed and more than 600 injured in 268 accidents during the same period.

Although many accidents occurred outside the official data, they were not included. For example, 12 people were killed in a terrible bus accident at the Padua Bazar rail crossing in Cumilla, it is not in the official list. BRTA's 24-hour record of March 21 did not record any incidents from Cumilla.

During the Eid holiday, the pressure of accident victims in various hospitals including the capital increased. The National Orthopaedic Hospital and Pangu Hospital received treatment for 151 injured patients from the night before Eid until the afternoon of the next day. A similar picture was observed in other hospitals. Most of the injured were injured in motorcycle, battery-operated rickshaw and easy bike accidents.

Experts said that the Eid pilgrimage is usually counted for 15 days - seven days before Eid, Eid day and seven days after. Last year, 322 people were killed in 315 accidents during the same period. In 2024, 416 people lost their lives in 372 accidents during the same period, which is the highest in a decade.

This year's Eid pilgrimage will start from March 17 and continue for seven days until March 23. However, as many institutions are still on holiday, the risk of accidents has not been completely eliminated. According to government data, the daily situation was as follows:

March 17: 15 killed, 15 injured in 12 accidents

March 18: 13 killed, 62 injured in 18 accidents

March 19: 8 killed, 7 injured in 11 accidents

March 20: 8 killed, 36 injured in 6 accidents

March 21: 15 killed, 25 injured in 17 accidents

March 22: 32 killed, 60 injured in 19 accidents

March 23: 9 killed, 12 injured in 9 accidents

Road Safety Foundation Executive Director Saidur Rahman said that according to initial information, the death toll may increase further. He fears that a new record may be set in road accidents during this Eid pilgrimage.

On the other hand, Jatri Kalyan Samiti Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said that the number of accidents increases during the return to work after Eid, because there is relatively less surveillance and law enforcement on the roads during this time.