Rangamati Correspondent:

Five people were killed and another critically injured in a collision between a CNG-run autorickshaw and a pickup at Betbunia in Rangamati’s Kawkali upazila on Saturday morning (April 26).

The accident occurred around 10:15am in the Chairmanpara area of the union.

The deceased have been identified as Torap from Chowdhury Para in Raozan, Nur Nahar from West Monairtak in Kawkali, and Mahmudur Rahman from Chattargat in Hathazari.

The identities of the two other victims are yet to be confirmed.

According to eyewitnesses, the accident took place when a Chattogram-bound autorickshaw collided head-on with a Rangamati-bound pickup truck near a rubber plantation.

Three people died at the scene, and three others were rushed to a local hospital.

Two of them succumbed to their injuries on the way. The remaining survivor was later transferred to Chattogram in critical condition.

Confirming the incident, Officer-in-Charge of Kawkali Police Station, Saifur Rahman Sohag, said, “Three people died on the spot and two more died after being taken to the hospital following the collision at Chairmanpara on the Rangamati-Chattogram Road. All of them were passengers of the autorickshaw.”

“Two dead bodies have already been sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, and two others will be sent after the preliminary report. The pickup driver fled from the scene soon after the accident. He added that we are searching for him, and legal procedures are underway”, he added.