A microbus carrying a bride and her party fell into a canal after the Haldia Hut bridge, built over the Chawra River in Chawra Union of Barguna’s Amtali Upazila, broke down. Nine people in the microbus were recovered dead. Among the deceased are three members of a single family, all relatives. The accident occurred on Saturday afternoon, casting a shadow of mourning over the area.
Barguna-1 Constituency MP Golam Sarwar Tuku, Deputy Commissioner Moha Rafiqul Islam, Upazila Parishad Chairman Golam Sarwar Forkan, Upazila Executive Officer (Acting) Tarek Hasan, Assistant Superintendent of Police Ruhul Amin, and OC Kazi Sakhawat Hossain Tapu visited the scene.
The accident happened around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Masum Billah Monir, an assistant teacher at Kaunia Ibrahim Academy, married off his daughter, Humaira Akhter, to Sohag, son of fellow teacher Salim Mahmud, who resides in the Khontakata area of Amtali town. The bride had been brought to the groom’s house on Friday, and on Saturday, her family was traveling to the groom’s house in microbuses and auto-rickshaws. While crossing the Haldia Bridge, the middle part of the bridge collapsed, causing the microbus and auto-rickshaw to fall into the river. All the passengers in the auto-rickshaw managed to swim to safety, but the passengers in the microbus drowned.
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Eyewitness Nashir Uddin reported that locals immediately tried to rescue those in the microbus. Upon receiving the information, Amtali Fire Service and Police arrived at the scene to assist. However, by that time, the nine passengers from the bride’s party in the microbus had perished.
The deceased have been identified as Rubia (45), Raiti (22), Fatema (55), Zakia (35), Ruqayat Islam (4), Tahia Mehzabin Azad (7), Tasfia (14), Ridhi (4), and Ruby Begum (35). Among them, Ruqayat Islam and Zakia Bari were from the village of South Taktabunia upazila. The other seven deceased were residents of Char village in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur district in Kokra and relatives of bride Humaira’s maternal uncle. The bodies have been kept at Amtali Upazila Health Complex.
Resident Medical Officer of Amtali Upazila Health Complex, Dr. Moniruzzaman, confirmed that all nine people killed in the bridge collapse had died before being brought to the hospital.
Survivor Sohel Mia, who was in the microbus, recounted that 16 passengers from the bride’s side were traveling to the groom’s house. As soon as the microbus got onto the Haldia Hat bridge, it collapsed, causing the vehicle to plunge into the river. Sohel Mia and two others managed to swim to the shore. Later, locals, fire services, and police recovered the bodies of the nine deceased.
Eyewitnesses UP members Saiful Islam Swapan and Nashir Uddin corroborated that the bridge broke as soon as the microbus and the auto-rickshaw reached the middle. Locals immediately attempted a rescue, followed by fire service and police participation in the rescue operation.