Same date, same upazila: 12 die in Baraigram crash 12 years after 35 killed
The two incidents, 12 years apart but on the same date in the same upazila, come amid a high road accident death toll nationwide.
Twelve people were killed in a road crash in Natore's Baraigram upazila today (20 October), the same date on which 35 people died in a collision between two buses in the area 12 years ago.
The latest crash occurred around 4:30am in the Sarkarpara area of the Natore-Pabna highway, when a passenger bus collided head-on with a sand-laden truck. Around 30 people were injured, several of them critically.
In the 2014 crash, a Dhaka-to-Rajshahi bus operated by Keya Paribahan collided with an Athoi Paribahan bus travelling from Natore to Gurudaspur on the Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway. At least 35 people were killed and dozens injured.
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The two incidents, 12 years apart but on the same date in the same upazila, come amid a high road accident death toll nationwide.
According to the Road Safety Foundation, 9,111 people were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2025. In September 2026 alone, 423 people died in road crashes.
The figures highlight the scale of the road safety challenge, although the two crashes in Baraigram involved different circumstances.
In 2014, witnesses said the Keya Paribahan bus had overtaken a truck before colliding with the oncoming bus. Both vehicles went off the road on impact, with one plunging into Chalan Beel and the other into a ditch.
In today's crash, the bus was travelling from Barguna to Chapainawabganj when it collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction, said Shamim Hossain, a sub-inspector at Bonpara Police Outpost.
Natore Superintendent of Police Mohammad Shariful Haque said police initially received information that 14 people had died. After identifying the bodies, however, they confirmed that the death toll was 12.
Fire Service official Akhtar Hamid Khan said rescue teams recovered bodies from the scene and worked to rescue passengers trapped inside the badly damaged bus. The injured were taken to hospitals in Natore and Rajshahi.
Following the 2014 accident, a three-member committee headed by Natore Additional District Magistrate Mohammad Ali was formed to investigate the crash. It was asked to submit its report within three working days.
