Staff Correspondent:

Road accidents claimed 249 lives and left 553 injured in just 11 days during the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation when a total of 257 accidents occurred, according to data compiled by the Road Safety Foundation.

Forty-one women and 59 children were among the dead, it said.

Over 2000 people were injured across the country during this period but according to the media report, RSF found only 553 injuries during Eid holidays.

The report was made after analysing accident reports published in the country’s national and regional dailies and online media during the period.

It said 106 people were killed in some 114 motorbike accidents across the country which is 42.57 % of the total fatalities.

Among those killed in road accidents in 11 days, 39 were pedestrians which is 15.66 percent of the total deaths and 32 were drivers and assistants of the drivers of different vehicles which was 12.85% of the total fatalities.

Additionally, during this period, 13 people were killed and 15 others injured in six waterway accidents while 12 were killed and eight injured in 17 railway accidents, it said.

Vehicles involved in the accidents include 19.11 percent buses, 13 percent pick-up vans, covered vans and lorries, 7.35 percent private cars and microbuses, 29.16 percent motorbikes, 21.56 percent local vehicles, 5.14 percent battery-run human haulers, 2.69 percent bicycles  and 1.96 percent unknown vehicles.

Of the accidents, 33.85 percent occurred on national highways, 38.13% on regional roads and 16.73percent and 11.28% on other roads.

The report reveals that Dhaka division saw the highest number of deaths with 28.79 percent fatalities while Sylhet division recorded the lowest number of accidents with just 2.72 percent fatalities.

At least 62 people died in 74 accidents in the capital city Dhaka, according to the report.