16 dead, 8 injured as truck veers off road in N. Bangladesh

At least 16 people were killed and eight others injured as a cement-laden truck veered off a road in Rangpur district, some 304 km off capital Dhaka, on Saturday morning, a local police official said.

"The accident left 16 people dead on the spot and eight others injured," the Rangpur district police official told Xinhua.

The official not to be named said the truck carrying dozens of Muslim Eid holiday makers went off the road and ended up in a ditch at about 5:00 a.m. (local time).

According to the official, the victims are mostly day laborers who were returning to their village homes from capital Dhaka to celebrate Eid.

A survivor told journalists that the truck driver went to sleep asking his helper to drive the truck slowly.

But the helper drove speedily and could not keep control over the steering, said Ahmed who narrowly escaped the accident.

The Muslim majority Bangladesh will celebrate Eid-ul Fitr, the holiest and biggest religious festival among the world's Muslims, on or around June 26 or 27 based on the sighting of the new moon.

Millions of Bangladeshis, braving every conceivable discomfort on creaky and congested transport, are now flocking to village homes to celebrate Eid-ul Fitr, the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)