A tragic road accident occurred on the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway in Satkania, Chittagong, claiming the lives of two individuals on Friday night. The incident involved a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw near the Jafar Ahmad Degree College area around 7:45 PM. Following the impact, the bus caught fire, leading to a chaotic scene and widespread public outrage.
One victim, an approximately 27-year-old man, died at the scene. A two-year-old child, who was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries, later succumbed to their wounds. Five other passengers from the auto-rickshaw sustained injuries and are currently receiving medical treatment at various local hospitals. The identities of the victims have not yet been officially confirmed.
In the aftermath of the collision, local residents staged a protest, blocking the highway and halting traffic for nearly an hour and a half, from 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM. When a police patrol team from the Satkania station arrived to manage the situation, the crowd turned hostile, vandalizing the police vehicle and injuring one officer in the process.
To restore order, additional police forces were dispatched from the Satkania police station around 9:30 PM. The authorities successfully cleared the blockade, allowing traffic to resume on the highway. A unit from the Satkania Fire Service arrived promptly to extinguish the fire that had engulfed the bus.
Officer-in-Charge of Dohazari Highway Police Station, Md. Nurul Absar, stated that the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. Currently, additional police personnel have been deployed to the area to maintain law and order. Authorities have confirmed that legal proceedings regarding the accident and the subsequent vandalism are underway.
