Staff Reporter:
Seven people were killed and 10 others sustained injuries as a bus ran over a motorcycle and a battery-run rickshaw in Pirojpur Sadar Upazila on Friday.
The accident took place around 12:00pm in Jhautloa Bus Stand area of the sadar upazila.
The seriously injured persons have been sent to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital and Khulna Medical College Hospital, said Md Atikuzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of the sadar police station.
Four of the deceased were identified as Naeem, Swapan, Khairul and Hemajet. The identities of the rest victims could not be known immediately.
The OC said all the deceased were riders of the motorcycle and passengers of the battery-run auto rickshaws.
The accident occurred when an Indurkani-bound passenger bus from Pirojpur Bus Stand hit a battery-operated auto-rickshaw carrying passengers traveling in the same direction, subsequently striking another motorcycle.
At that time, the bus overturned the auto rickshaw and hit a roadside tree around 12:30pm, leaving three people dead on the spot and 14 others sustained serious injuries, OC Ashikuzzaman said.
On information, police and fire service personnel rushed to the spot and recovered the injured people and took them to Pirojpur Sadar Hospital, where on-duty doctor declared four of them dead, the OC said.
Later, five seriously injured were sent to Khulna and Barisal hospitals for better treatment, OC said.
The bodies of the deceased have been kept at Pirojpur Zilla Hospital. Legal action is under process in this regard, he said.