BRT girder collapse: Writ seeks Tk 50m in compensation for victims’ family

A lawyer has moved the High Court with a writ petition seeking Tk 50 million in compensation for the family of five people who were crushed to death when a girder of the Bus Transit project fell on their car in Dhaka's Uttara.

Lawyer ABM Shahjahan Akanda Masum filed the petition on behalf of his colleague Zakaria Khan on Tuesday, reports bdnews24.com.

"The writ petition seeks Tk 10 million in compensation for each death," said Masum.

A report outlining the safety precautions taken by the BRT authorities in the last five years accompanied the petition, according to Masum.

The court has also been asked to issue an order aimed at ensuring the implementation of appropriate safety measures at all development project sites across the country.

The panel of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel is expected to hold a hearing on the petition later.

On Monday, a heavy girder lifted by a crane under the government project came crashing down on a passing car on Uttara's Jashimuddin Road, killing five members of a family.

The car’s owner Rubel Mia, 60, his wife Fahima, 40, Fahima’s sister Jharna, 28, and Jharna’s two children, Jannat, 6, and Zakaria, 2, died in the incident.

An initial inquiry has found evidence of negligence by China Gezhouba Group Corporation or CGGC, the contractor in charge of the crane that dropped a concrete girder on the car. A case was started against Gezhouba and safety officers on the site by the victims' family on Tuesday.