Staff Correspondent:

A total of 614 people were killed and 1,196 injured in 597 road accidents across the country in May, according to a report by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.

The report, based on media monitoring by the organisation’s Accident Monitoring Cell, also recorded 48 rail-related accidents that left 35 people dead and 14 injured. Meanwhile, seven waterway accidents resulted in nine deaths, with 10 people reported missing.

In total, 652 accidents across roads, railways and waterways claimed 658 lives and injured 1,210 people during the month.

Of the road accidents, 233 involved motorcycles—leading to 256 deaths and 201 injuries. These accounted for 39.02% of all reported accidents, 41.69% of deaths and 16.80% of injuries.

Dhaka division recorded the highest number of road accidents at 139, resulting in 148 deaths and 271 injuries. The lowest was reported in Barishal division, with 30 accidents, 30 deaths and 44 injuries.

The findings were shared through a press release signed by the organisation’s Secretary General Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury on Thursday. The report was compiled from accident reports published in national, regional and online newspapers.

Among the road accident victims were 154 drivers, 103 pedestrians, 92 students, 88 women, 67 transport workers, 58 children, 37 journalists, seven law enforcers, five teachers, two doctors, one freedom fighter and seven political activists.

The fatalities included two police personnel, one army member, one fire service official, two doctors, one freedom fighter, 142 drivers, 95 pedestrians, 66 students, 59 women, 54 children, 34 transport workers, five teachers and seven political activists.

The report identified 945 vehicles involved in road crashes. Of them, 29.41% were motorcycles, 22.53% trucks, pickup vans, covered vans and lorries, 14.17% battery-run rickshaws and easy bikes, 12.48% buses, 9.31% locally modified vehicles (nasimon, karimon, mahindra, tractors and lagunas), 6.66% CNG-run auto-rickshaws and 5.39% private cars, jeeps and microbuses.

The causes of road accidents included 49.07% run-over incidents, 24.95% head-on collisions, 20.10% loss of control leading to vehicles plunging into ditches, 5.02% various other reasons, 0.33% scarf entanglements and 0.50% train-vehicle collisions.

In terms of location, 33.50% of the accidents occurred on national highways, 32.83% on regional highways, 28.14% on feeder roads, 3.51% in Dhaka city, 1.50% in Chattogram city and 0.50% at rail crossings.