Mesut Özil’s convoy involved road accident

The vehicle convoy carrying former German football star Mesut Özil and the son of the Turkish President, Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan, was involved in a collision with a motorised auto-rickshaw in Ukhia on Thursday evening at Ukhia.

The Officer-in-Charge of Shahpori Highway Police Station, Saiful Islam, confirmed the incident, saying it occurred around 7:00 pm on the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf Road in the Kutupalong area after the convoy reportedly broke VIP protocol.

Although neither Özil nor any member of the delegation was injured, the auto-rickshaw was badly mangled, and its driver sustained injuries. The injured driver received medical treatment locally. Police have seized the vehicle and launched an investigation, with necessary legal action expected.

"No, the car was not ours; it was the police escort vehicle," one of the event coordinators said to the Daily Sun.

"The escort vehicle collided with a rickshaw and maybe a light house structure or something. No one got seriously injured; just the driver got a little hurt. We took him to the hospital, that’s all," a source also added.

Earlier on, Özil and the Turkish delegation visited Rohingya camps, playing football with camp residents at Rohingya Camp No. 4 and later joining them for iftar.

The accident serves as a reminder of the challenges of VIP convoys on busy roads, especially when interacting with local traffic in humanitarian zones.