Covered van overturns after tyre burst on Dhaka Elevated Expressway, disrupting traffic

A covered van has overturned on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway after one its tyres blew out, bringing traffic on the toll road to a halt for nearly two hours.

The accident occurred around 9:30am on Monday on the section of the expressway between Nakhalpara and Mohakhali. No injuries or casualties were reported in the incident, bdnews24.com reports. 

“A covered van flipped over while heading from Mohakhali towards Banani. As a result, traffic on one side of the expressway came to a halt," said Russel Rana, assistant commissioner of the Mohakhali Traffic Zone.

Later, once the vehicle was removed, traffic returned to normal around 12pm, he added.

Hasib Hasan Khan, director of Traffic Operations, Safety and Security at Dhaka Elevated Expressway said the vehicle overturned after its front right tyre burst.

"Immediately after the incident, one of our teams rushed to the scene and blocked one lane. Traffic in the other lane continued as usual.”

He added that the van was carrying a heavy load due to which, it took some time to turn the vehicle over and move it off the road using a wrecker and crane.

Hasib noted that such incidents occur fairly often on the expressway.

“We have all the necessary equipment and our own team in place to handle these situations,” he said.

He added that about 65,000 vehicles use the expressway every day.

“When such incidents occur, traffic congestion arises temporarily as one lane has to be closed,” he said.