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Road accidents claimed 262 lives with 543 injuries in just 13 days during the Eid-ul-Azha holidays as a total of 251 accidents occurred during the period, according to data compiled by the Road Safety Foundation.
Thirty two women and 44 children were among the deceased, it said.
The report was published after analysing accident reports published in the country’s national and regional dailies and online media during the period.
On average, 20.15 per cent people died per day during the Eid vacation while it was 21.6 during last year’s Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
Besides, 104 people were killed in some 129 motorbike accidents across the country which is 39.69 per cent of the total fatalities, showing an increase of 13.31 per cent motorcycle accidents compared to the last year.
Among those killed in road accidents in 13 days, 49 were pedestrians which is 18.70 per cent of the total deaths and 28 were drivers and assistants of the drivers of different vehicles which was 10.68 per cent of the total fatalities.
During this period, 12 people were killed and three others injured in seven waterway accidents while 14 were killed and eight injured in 16 railway accidents, it said.
Vehicles involved in the accidents include 13.32 per cent buses, 18.57 per cent pick-up vans, covered vans and lorries, 7.31 per cent private cars, jeeps and microbuses, 25.89 per cent motorbikes, 14.58 per cent battery-run human haulers and 19.88 per cent three-wheeler vehicles.
Of the accidents, 38.64 per cent occurred on national highways, 36.25 on regional roads and 11.15 per cent on other roads.
The report reveals that Dhaka division saw the highest number of deaths with 28.68 per cent fatalities while Sylhet division recorded the lowest number of accidents with just 3.18 per cent fatalities.
At least 14 people died and 11 were injured in 18 accidents in the capital city Dhaka, Road Safety Foundation data shows.
The organization identified several factors contributing to the high number of casualties on the country’s roads, including, unfit vehicles, reckless driving, unskilled drivers and physical mental sickness of them, absence of fixed driving hours, slow-moving vehicles on highways, reckless driving of motorbikes by young people, lack of traffic rules knowledge, inadequate traffic management, limited capacity of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), and prevalence of extortion in the public transport sector.