9-year-old killed in city road crash

His mother was waiting at home to have lunch together on his return from Juma prayers. But what returned instead was his body wrapped in a shroud.

Nine-year-old Robiul Awal, a madrasa student, was killed as a speeding bus ran him over at Karwan Bazar in the capital yesterday. He was a student of Amborsha Hafizia Madrasa in the same area.

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Pedestrians dash across the road through a gap in its median ignoring the looming danger of speeding vehicles. Photo: Anisur Rahman

The accident happened around 2:00pm when Robiul and two other boys were trying to cross the Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near the Dhaka Wasa building at Karwan Bazar, said a witness.

Pedestrians dash across the road through a gap in its median ignoring the looming danger of speeding vehicles. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Tea vendor Mohammad Imon said a speeding bus of a private company hit and dragged Robiul yards towards the Bangla Motor intersection. The other two boys were unhurt.

The bus fled.

Even bikers risk their lives to cross one of the city's busiest roads. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Locals rushed critically injured Robiul to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Abul Kalam Azad, the victim's brother-in-law, said Robiul went to Amborsha mosque at Karwan Bazar for offering his Juma prayers and was returning home in West Karwan Bazar area.

Robiul, who was from Katiadi upazila of Kishoreganj, was staying at his home with his mother, Ranu Begum, and two siblings as his madrasa was on Eid vacation.

Mazharul Islam, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station, said the bus which killed the boy was seized in Motijheel area but the driver escaped.

Angry locals stopped two other buses of the same company near the accident spot and forced the passengers to get down.

Minutes later, this correspondent, however, saw many others crossing the same street at the same place through the central reservation, ignoring the risks. The barbed wire fence there was cut off.

A traffic police tries to patch up a barrier in the median of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue hours after a kid was killed there while crossing the road. People tear down the barbed wire barriers to make it easy for them to cross the road. Photo: Star

Every day, thousands of people do the same across the city, apparently to “save their time” but the practice, in some cases, leads to accidents.