5 killed as dump truck, auto-rickshaw collide

Five people, including three family members and two others, were killed in a head-on collision between a dump truck and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Cox's Bazar on Thursday morning.

The accident occurred on the Pekua-Bashkhali regional highway in Pekua around 7:30 am.

Cox's Bazar district police spokesperson and traffic police chief, Additional Police Superintendent Md Jasim Uddin Chowdhury, confirmed the incident.

The deceased were identified as Firoz Ahmad, 49, of Madhya Madarsha area in Chattogram's Hathazari upazila; his wife Shaheen Aktar, 29; their six-month-old child Jahedul Islam; Monirul Mannan, 22, the auto-rickshaw driver from Dhaniyakata area; and another passenger, Abdur Rahman, 32, of Mognama Sonali Bazar area in Pekua upazila.

Jasim Uddin said the auto-rickshaw was heading towards Chattogram from Pekua in the foggy morning. When the vehicle reached the regional highway, it collided head-on with the dump truck, leaving four people dead at the scene and two others injured. Later, one of the injured died on the way to a nearby hospital.

Both vehicles were placed under police custody after the accident, but the dump truck driver managed to flee, Jasim Uddin added.