18 killed as a bus falls into roadside ditch in Madaripur

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: At least 18 people were killed and over a dozen injured as a bus fell into a roadside ditch at Kutubpur under Shibpur upazila in Madaripur district on Sunday morning.

Identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.

The accident took place minutes after 7:30am on Sunday, said Madaripur Highway Police official Ahsan Habib.

He said that the Dhaka-bound bus of Emad Paribahan met the fatal accident on Dhaka-Khulna highway and left 16 dead on the spot and over one dozen injured.

On information, police and fire service and civil defence rescuers rushed to the spot, rescued the injured ones and sent them to hospital for treatment.

Two more people died in the hospital, he said.

Police officials said that a number of injured people were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

DMCH police outpost in-charge Bachchu Mia said that the hospital received a total of 10 injured patients from Madaripur until noon and two of them died.

He said that five of the victims were still in critical condition.

Shibchar highway police station officials said that they recovered the bodies from the spot and would take appropriate measures to identify them and handing them over to their family members after completing the leagal procedure.