At least 15 people lost their lives and many others were injured in Bangladesh when a truck carrying iron rods overturned close to the eastern end of the Jamuna Bridge in Kalihati upazila of Tangail district on Monday morning. The passengers on the truck were en route to northern districts to celebrate Eid, as per the police.
Tangail Superintendent of Police Muhammad Shamsul Alan Sarkar confirmed the incident, stating that it occurred around 4:30 a.m. in the Saratail Dakshinpara area of the Dhaka-Tangail highway. The identities of the deceased are yet to be verified, with ongoing rescue efforts by police and fire service personnel at the site.
The truck, laden with rods and passengers, was traveling north when the driver lost control in the Saratail Dakshinpara region, causing the vehicle to overturn into a roadside ditch, Sarkar explained. Syed Riaz Uddin, an executive engineer at the Jamuna Bridge site office of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, mentioned that passengers atop the rods became trapped beneath them after the truck flipped.
According to Syed Riaz Uddin, the tragic incident is believed to have resulted from the driver falling asleep while driving. Additionally, Elenga Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Sharif reported that traffic disruptions occurred during the rescue operation but were later resolved, allowing normal traffic flow to resume.
