274 killed in accidents during Eid travel: Road Safety Foundation

A total of 274 people were killed in road accidents across the country during the 10-day period before and after Eid-ul-Fitr this year, according to the Road Safety Foundation, an organisation working on road safety.

According to the foundation's data, 342 road accidents occurred nationwide from March 17 to the morning of March 26, claiming 274 lives. Last year, 249 people died in road accidents during the 11-day Eid-ul-Fitr holiday period. This year's death toll has therefore increased.

Several accidents during this Eid travel deeply shook the nation. On the night of March 21, 12 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a train in Cumilla. A few days later, on March 25, 26 people died when a passenger bus plunged into the Padma River at the Daulatdia ferry ghat area in Goalanda, Rajbari.

Meanwhile, according to data from the government agency BRTA, 100 people were killed and 217 injured in 92 road accidents over seven days from March 17 to 23.

A study by Police Headquarters indicates that reckless speed by drivers is the cause of 42 per cent of accidents. Additionally, unfit vehicles and unlicensed drivers are further complicating the situation.

Saifur Rahman, Executive Director of the Road Safety Foundation, said the accident and death statistics themselves prove there are weaknesses in road management.