Sohel Rana, the supervisor of an RP Special Paribahan bus, was driving when the vehicle met with a devastating accident in Bonpara, Natore. According to three surviving passengers, both the driver and his assistant were asleep in the rear seats at the time of the collision.
Sohel Rana, 38, hailed from Faradpur village in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi and is survived by his wife and two children. Family members noted that although he had previously worked as a professional bus driver, he had been employed as a bus supervisor for approximately the last two years.
The tragic incident occurred at around 4:00 AM on Tuesday on the Natore-Pabna highway in Bonpara, Baraigram upazila, when the passenger bus collided head-on with a sand-laden truck, resulting in 14 fatalities and at least 32 injuries.
Ramzan Ali, a 28-year-old passenger from Gomostapur upazila in Chapainawabganj, sustained injuries and received initial treatment at Bonpara Patwari Hospital before leaving around 8:30 AM for advanced medical care. Speaking to Chitra Post, he recounted the moments leading up to the crash.
"I was sitting two seats behind the driver," Ramzan said. "When the bus reached Ishwardi in Pabna at around 3:00 AM, the driver vacated his seat, and the supervisor took over the steering. The driver then closed the door and went back with the assistant to sleep in the rear seats. About an hour later, upon reaching Bonpara, the bus crashed straight into an oncoming truck."
Two other injured passengers, Yakub Ali and Abdus Salam, who were also receiving care at Bonpara Patwari Hospital, corroborated the sequence of events during their medical treatment.
