Online Desk: Four persons including a school girl were killed and three others injured when a bus collided head-on with a battery-run auto-rickshaw on Tangail-Jamalpur regional highway at Dhanbari upazila in Tangail district on Sunday afternoon. The accident happened place at Baghil Bazar area of the upazila at around 1.15pm. All the deceased were autorickshaw passengers.

The deceased were Abdul Hakim, 45, son of Niyat Ali of village Norilla in Dhopakhali union under Dhanbari upazila, Mostofa, 53, son of Jalal Mia of village Hadira under the same upazila; Urmi Akter, daughter of Abul Kalam of village Baghil and a Class VIII student of Bhaighat Uccha Vidyalaya, and Urmi’s relative Bithi Akter Munni.

Quoting locals, Dhanbari Police Station sub-inspector Idris Ali said a speeding Dhaka-bound TS Paribahan bus (Dhaka Metro-Ba- 15-9322) collided head-on with a battery-run auto-rickshaw at Baghil at about 1:15pm, leaving three passengers dead on the spot and three others critically injured.

The autorickshaw was badly damaged in the accident. The autorickshaw driver Hakim and Mostofa died on the spot. Five persons including four schoolgirls were injured. The injured were rushed to Madhupur Upazila Health Complex first where the doctors referred them to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. Urmi died on her way to the hopsital, while Bithi Akter Munni succumbed while she underwent treatment at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.

Later, police seized the bus, however its driver managed to flee. Legal steps are under process in this regard, the SI added.