At least 407 people were killed and 1,398 others injured in 399 road crashes in 15 days during the last Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, said a report of the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh on Saturday.
Comparing with the journeys during Eid-ul-Fitr in 2023, the numbers of road crashes in the country increased by 31.25 per cent, deaths by 24.08 per cent and injured people by 147.43 per cent in this year.
This year, between April 4 and April 18, a total of 24 people were killed and 21 others injured in 18 railways accidents and seven people were killed and five others injured in two waterways accidents, the report said.
The report, prepared on the basis of news that published in different media, was published at a press conference at Dhaka Reporter鈥檚 Unity in the capital, said a press release issued by the association.
This year Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated on April 11, while the three-day government holidays started on April 10.
PWAB observed that out of total Eid-time travellers, 7.5 per cent used motorcycles this year. However, the highest numbers of road crashes, and deaths involved the motorcycles.
During this Eid festival, in 198 road crashes, involving motorcycles, 165 people were killed and 240 others injured, which were 49.62 per cent of total road crashes, 40.54 per cent of deaths and 30.37 per cent of the injured people.
In cases of other vehicles, buses were involved of in 14.46 per cent crashes, followed by trucks, pickup and covered vans and lorries in 14.28 per cent, battery-run rickshaws, easy-bikes, vans and cycles in 12.11 per cent, cars, microbuses and jeeps in 6.5 per cent, three-wheeler auto-rickshaws in 6.14 per cent and nasimons, karimons, tractors, legunas and mahindras in 5.96 per cent crashes.聽
Of the crashes, the highest 47.11 per cent were caused by crushing or hitting pedestrians or other vehicles, followed by 26.31 per cent by head-on collisions, 22.55 per cent by losing control and then fell into roadside ditches, 3 per cent by other reasons, and one per cent by collision with trains and other road transports and tangling scarves with vehicle wheels.
The highest percentage, 50.62 per cent, of road crashes took place on feeder roads, followed by 32.58 per cent on national highways and 10.02 per cent on regional highways.
Out of total crashes, 6.01 per cent took place in Dhaka metropolitan city and 0.25 per cent in Chattogram metropolitan city.
The association mentioned that they also include the statistics of 608 injured people, admitted in the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation after road crashes in their report.
PWAB observed that in the presence of law enforcement agencies, violation of traffic rules and laws continued on roads.
They also urged the government to stop import and registration of motorcycles and easy-bikes and implement the Road Transport Act 2018 to reduce the number of road crashes.