15 killed after lorry overturns in central Bangladesh

At least 15 people were killed and 10 others injured as a lorry loaded with iron rods overturned on a major highway in central Bangladesh early on Monday.The accident occurred on the eastern side of the Jamuna Bridge that connects northwestern Bangladesh with the central part, local fire station in charge, Ataur Rahman, told reporters.He said the 10 injured were shifted to a local health facility for treatment with help from the people in neighbouring areas.According to local police, the lorry was also carrying some passengers along with iron rods.

At least 15 people were killed and 10 others injured as a lorry loaded with iron rods overturned on a major highway in central Bangladesh early on Monday.

''The accident occurred on the eastern side of the Jamuna Bridge that connects northwestern Bangladesh with the central part,'' local fire station in charge, Ataur Rahman, told reporters.

He said the 10 injured were shifted to a local health facility for treatment with help from the people in neighbouring areas.

According to local police, the lorry was also carrying some passengers along with iron rods. The driver lost control of the vehicle, and it overturned in the Kalihati sub-district of Tangail in central Bangladesh.

Tangail's Additional Superintendent of Police, Fauzia Habib Khan, said the lorry or truck was heading toward the northwestern region from the southeastern port city of Chattogram, and the victims might have boarded it from different points on the way during the Eid rush.

The tragic incident took place even as a 10-day vacation of Eid-ul-Adha began on Monday. People have started to rush to their hometowns for the festival, jamming buses, trains and ferries.

The poor travel in lorries for low cost or after failing to get tickets in regular passenger vehicles.

Police, however, said the identities of the 15 people could not be known immediately, and efforts were underway to identify them.

Bangladesh has one of the highest road crash fatality rates in the world, with accidents generally attributed to reckless driving, unfit vehicles and often poor road conditions.

According to a  2021 World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate, road crashes kill some 32,000 Bangladeshis every year.