FIGHT FOR A RIDE HOME: Homeward passengers on Saturday scramble to get the best berth on the rooftop of a train at Airport Station to reach their destinations ahead of the holy Eid of sacrifice. kamrul islam ratanAt least eight people were killed and three others injured as they fell off the rooftops of two running trains in Tangail and Bogra on Friday and Saturday, just a day before the Eid-ul-Azha festival. The deceased were returning homes to celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones.
Of the eight, four people were killed in Tangail on Friday evening while four others in Bogra on Saturday afternoon.
Those who died in Tangail were identified as Mintu Miah (18), son of Abdul Motaleb from Sahadatpur upazila of Sirajganj, Mamun Miah (22), son of Abul Hossain from BL Bari village of Faridpur upazila in Pabna, Zahirul Islam (25), son of Amarat Ali of Alampur village of Volar Hat upazila in Chapainawabganj. Identity of one victim (aged about 30) could not be known immediately.
Kaji Harun-ur-Rashid, a sub-inspector of the GRP police, said the accident took place at about 5:00 pm. The victims were going to their village homes riding on the rooftop of Silk City Express that was heading towards Rajshahi from Dhaka.
The ill-fated people bumped against a supporting net made for the electric cable crossing across the railway track near Tetulia in Mirzapur.
Two died on the spot while another succumbed to his injuries at Mirzapur Kumodini Medical College Hospital, the police officer said.
In Bogra, four homeward passengers riding on the rooftop of Dinajpur-bound Ekota Express were killed after they were hit by an iron structure of Halhaliya Bridge near Santahar in Adamdighi upazila in the district at about 2:00am on Saturday.
Police said two of the passengers died instantly while two others succumbed to their injuries in the afternoon at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
Of the victims, three were identified as Dulal Mia (30), Uzzal Mia (30), and Julfikar Rahman (32). Identity of the other could not be known immediately.
Meanwhile, vehicular movement on a 75-km stretch of Dhaka-Tangail highway from Chandra of Kaliakoir in Gazipur to Easter side of Bangabandhu Bridge on Saturday came to a halt for hours triggering untold suffering to home-bound people.
During the gridlock, thousands of motor vehicles got stranded on both sides of the busy highway.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Garai Highway Police Station Sanowar Hossain said six police teams are working hard to ease the congestion.
With the streams of tens of thousands of homeward people three inter-district bus terminals ? Gabtali, Sayedabad and Mohakhali ? and Kamalapur Railway Station and Sadarghat Launch Terminal in the capital turned into human sea on Saturday, just one day ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha festival.
A large number of people left the capital on the rooftops of buses, trains launches from early hours on Saturday for their ancestral homes to celebrate the festival with their family members.
While visiting the city?s Gabtali and Sayedabad bus terminals, Kamalapur Railway Station and Sadarghat Launch Terminal on Saturday noon many buses, launches and trains were seen leaving the stations with passengers beyond their capacity.
A launch plying between Sadarghat and Barisal with the capacity of accommodating around 2000 to 2500 was found ferrying almost double passengers, said Zilani Milton, a Barisal-bound passenger.
Apart from the three inter-district bus terminals, the city?s other bus counters set up at different parts of the capital including Shyamoli, Kalabagan, Fakirapool, Kallyanpur, Mirpur, Rampura, Mouchak, Khilgan, Gulistan and Uttara also witnessed huge rush of home goers on Saturday.
Manjurul Haq, a resident of Kurigram said that like him many passengers were also waiting at bus terminal for buses for hours with endless agonies. But the buses they will travel on are not arriving as highway gridlocks have brought the home-bound journey to a halt.
A banker Abdul Khaleq said that he along with his family members had been waiting for bus at Mohakhali bus terminal for three hours.
Abdul Jabbar, a counter manger of Bislillah Paribahan at Sayedabad Bus Terminal, said due to severe traffic jam buses are returning from different district towns of North Bengal two to three hours behind the schedule.
Salam, a rickshawpuller, said he couldn?t manage to get a seat and finally he decided to make his journey on the roof of a Gaibandha-bound bus.
Besides, with the movement of thousands of home-bound people, severe traffic congestion was created in and around each bus terminal and launch terminal and railway station.
Traffic system at the terminals and its adjacent areas completely collapsed leaving thousands of slow-moving rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, cars, buses and trucks stranded in the tailbacks.
Source: daily-sun.com
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