Bus collision kills 13 in northwestern Bangladesh

At least 13 people were killed and 30 others injured when two buses collided head-on on a highway in Bangladesh's northwestern Rangpur district, police said on Wednesday.

"At least 13 passengers were killed and 30 others sustained injuries in the head-on collision between the passenger buses," Abdul Latif Miah, officer-in-charge of Taraganjr Police Station in the district, told Xinhua.

The road accident left at least eight people dead on the spot.

All the injured in the crash were rushed to local hospitals and clinics, he said, adding the accident was most likely caused by a tyre puncture which led to loss of stability and control of one bus.

The death toll may further go up as some of the 30 injured are battling for lives in hospitals.

Bangladesh has one of the highest fatality rates for road crashes in the world due mainly to shoddy highways, poorly maintained vehicles, violation of traffic rules by inept drivers and lack of monitoring of the traffic department.

According to police and various data, the number of daily fatality varies from 15 to 50, about 75 percent of which occur in rural areas.