The month of October witnessed 452 road accidents in the country, leaving 475 people dead and 815 injured, according to a report by Jatri Kalyan Samity, the road safety advocates.
Samity General Secretary Mohammad Mozammel Haque Chowdhury shared the findings at a press conference in the capital on Saturday (November 23).
According to the report, there were 63 railway accidents that claimed the lives of 76 people, while 24 were injured. Besides, 19 accidents on waterways left 24 people dead, 36 injured and 9 missing.
It also said 138 motorcycle accidents accounted for 163 deaths and 239 injuries, representing 30.53 per cent of total accidents, 34.31 per cent of fatalities and 29.32 per cent of injuries.
The report indicates that among those who lost their lives in road accidents this month were 10 members of the law enforcement agencies, 124 drivers, 117 pedestrians, 32 transport workers, 49 students, 15 teachers, 58 women, 51 children, 4 physicians, 6 journalists, 16 individuals from different political parties.
Among the 631 vehicles involved in accidents, motorcycles comprised 24.41 per cent, trucks-pickups-covered vans and lorry 22.50 per cent, buses 18.54 per cent, battery-run rickshaws and easy-bike 17.91 per cent, CNG-run auto rickshaw 3.96 per cent, Nosimon-Karimon-Mahindra-tractor and Laguna 6.65 per cent and car-jeep-microbus 6.02 per cent.
The highest percentage – 38.29 per cent -- of road crashes took place on national highways, 30.39 per cent on regional highways, and 24.62 per cent on feeder roads, added the report.
Bangladesh recorded 493 road accidents in September, leaving 498 people dead and 978 injured.
bd-pratidin/GR
