Three people have been killed and 16 injured after a passenger bus veered off the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway in Munshiganj, smashed through a roadside barrier and plunged into a water-filled ditch.
The accident occurred at 3:18am on Saturday in the Hasara area of Sreenagar, on the Dhaka-bound lane. Two Fire Service units took part in the rescue operation.
Muhammad Shafiqul Islam, deputy assistant director of Munshiganj Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the bus operated by Darshana Paribahan was travelling from Chuadanga to Dhaka when the driver lost control while overtaking a covered van.
The bus broke through the road barrier, crossed the service lane and fell into the water-filled ditch beside the road, he said.
After receiving reports of the accident, two rescue units from Sreenagar Fire Station rushed to the scene and began the operation.
Rescuers recovered 11 people and took them by Fire Service ambulance to Sreenagar Upazila Health Complex. Five others received first aid at the scene.
The Fire Service said the body of one victim was recovered and handed over to highway police.
He was identified as Rukunuzzaman Ranju, 55, from Chuadanga.
The identities of the other two people killed in the crash were not immediately known.
The injured were identified as Hridoy, 30; Shahin Akter, 32; Nur Islam, 55; Imran, 27; Gilbad Sarkar, 55; Tarikul Islam, 36; Saiful Islam, 40; Mirazul Islam, 28; Rafiqul Islam, 35; Anifin, 17; Sandipan Basu, 40; Ikram, 40; Raihan, 21; Hasib, 22; Tisha, 24; and Borhan Uddin, 55.
Several of the injured are from Jibannagar, Damurhuda and Kapasdanga in Chuadanga district. Others are from Mujibnagar in Meherpur, Maheshpur in Jhenaidah, Aftabnagar in Dhaka and Magura Sadar.