Students withdraw highway and rail blockade in Sitakunda after district administrator's assurance
Students of the International Islamic University have withdrawn their blockade of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway and the railway line in Sitakunda, Chattogram, after an assurance from the district administrator. They had been blockading since Tuesday morning over the death of their fellow student Maisha.
The accident happened at around 9:30am on Tuesday (3 November) on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway beside the gate of the International Islamic University at Kumira in Sitakunda upazila. University student Maisha (21) was killed when a container lorry hit a minibus parked beside the highway.
Bar Aulia highway police said that as the Dhaka-bound container lorry was passing the university gate area, a private car in front suddenly turned around. Swerving to save the car, the speeding lorry hit a Dhaka-bound No. 8 Paribahan minibus parked beside the highway, and the lorry overturned on the highway.
Two university students who had got down from the bus were run over in the accident and passengers inside the minibus were injured. The injured were rescued and sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital and other hospitals.
The deceased Maisha was the daughter of Sakhawat Hossain and Salma Akter of Bara Takia in Khaiyachhara Union of Mirsarai upazila. She and the injured student Rajia Sultana were students of the English department of the International Islamic University.
University professor Mostafa Monir Chowdhury said that when the injured Maisha was taken to the emergency department of Chattogram Medical College Hospital, doctors declared her dead. The other injured student, Rajia Sultana, left the hospital after receiving primary treatment.
Sub-inspector (SI) Alauddin, in-charge of the Chattogram Medical College Hospital police outpost, said several people including the two injured university students were brought to the hospital after the accident, and doctors declared Maisha dead among them.
After the accident, angry students blockaded the Dhaka-Chattogram highway and the railway line. Hundreds of buses and trucks were stranded and train movement was disrupted. The students later withdrew the blockade after the district administrator's assurance.
Sergeant Shafiul Islam Shuvo of Bar Aulia highway police outpost said the overturned lorry and the damaged bus were removed and taken to the police station after the accident. The body of the deceased would be handed over to relatives after legal procedures, he said.
