Seventeen people were killed and 23 others injured when a bus lost control and fell into a pond in Jhalakathi on Saturday morning.
The accident took place in front of a union parishad building at Chatrakanda area in the Sadar upazila of the district around 10:30am.
The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.
Witnesses and police said a bus of Bashar Smriti Paribahan was going to Barishal with 60 passengers from Bhandaria upazila in Pirojpur in the morning. The bus lost control and fell into the roadside pond at Chatrakanda area while giving side to an easy-bike.
On information, members of fire service and police rushed to the spot and recovered seventeen dead bodies. Apart from, 23 people were also rescued alive. The 23 survivors were sent to Jhalakathi Sadar Hospital.
Baishakhi Boral, a physician of the hospital, confirmed the number of the deaths and the number of the injuries to Jago News.
Nasir Uddin Sarkar, Officer-in-charge of Jhalakathi Sadar Police Station, said seventeen bodies were recovered so far. The bus was pulled out of the pond around 12pm.