Just two days after a man was killed in a bus accident, his son was hospitalized and one of his son’s friends killed after being run over by another bus of the same company.
Parvez Rob, a singer and music director, was killed by a Victor Classic Paribahan bus at Dhaka’s Turag area on Thursday. On Saturday night, his son Yasir Alvi Rob, a first year student at Uttara Town University College, was hospitalized and his friend Mehedi Hasan Choton killed after being run over by a bus of the same company in Abdullahpur.
Alvi and Mehedi had gone to the area to purchase some items for Alvi’s father’s burial rites. Alvi is currently fighting to return to normal life at the Trauma Centre in Shyamoli, having broken his pelvis in the accident.
“My father was killed just two days ago. Now, another bus has sent me to the hospital and killed my friend. I do not know how I will recover both mentally and physically,” Alvi said, his pillow soaked with tears.
Doctors have decided not to operate on Alvi, instead keeping him on total bed rest.
“Alvi will recover gradually,” Dr Riyadh Hossain told Dhaka Tribune.
Alvi’s mother Rumana Sultana and sister Ramisa Ibnath were trying to make him drink water during Dhaka Tribune’s visit.
Both were worried about whether Alvi would ever be able to walk again.
“My head is not working. What should I do know? I lost my husband, and now my son is in a hospital bed. How will I bear the treatment cost? Within two days, I lost everything,” Rumana said.
“What I have lost will not come back even if I am paid billions of taka. This is not an accident, it is a murder and I want justice,” she added.
She further said her family members had met with representatives of Victor Classic Paribahan to negotiate compensation for the death of her husband, but failed to reach an agreement.
“My house is near the bus stop. The bus driver and helper might have recognised Alvi. That is why they tried to kill my son,” she claimed.
Recalling the accident, Alvi said he left his home in Turag with Mehedi around 7pm on Saturday. They reached at Switch Gate area by rickshaw, and later tried to board a bus.
“We saw a bus was coming towards us slowly. When we were trying to board, it suddenly picked up speed and left us hanging from the door. Within moments, it hit another bus parked on the roadside,” he said.
“Mehedi was crushed between the two buses. I saw his bloody body and that the bus we were trying to board was also one from Victor Classic Paribahan. I managed to make a phone call to my friends before losing consciousness,” he added.
Mehedi’s body was buried at a local graveyard in Turag.
Mehdi’s father Yousuf Ali, a small trader, said all of his hopes had rested on his two children.
“Mehedi had wanted to be banker. But now a bus has snatched away my son willingly. It is a murder,” he claimed.
Uttara (West) Police Station Officer In-charge (OC) Topon Chandra Shah said the driver and helper of the bus in the second accident have been arrested.
“According to the driver, Alvi and some of his friends tried to stop the bus in Uttara’s Switch Gate area. The bus driver sped up to try to avoid being caught by them,” the OC added.
Students block road over Mehedi’s death
Protesting Mehedi’s death and Alvi’s injury, their friends blocked the Ashulia road at Dhaka’s Turag area.
Nurul Mottakin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Turag police station, told Dhaka Tribune: “They stayed on the road for one hour from about 12:30pm. Various college students participated in the blockade.”
The blockade led to significant gridlock in the area.
