Bangla Press Desk: A woman has reportedly died in an ambulance after it was trapped for nearly four hours in a massive traffic jam on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
The patient, Amirunnesa, suffered a heart attack on Friday, her relative Tarek Al Hasan told reporters on Saturday.
They left for Dhaka by ambulance around 8:00 pm, but the vehicle became stuck in severe congestion after reaching Daudkandi at about 11:00 pm.
It remained almost stationary for four hours, and Amirunnesa reportedly died inside around 3:30 am on Saturday.
Repair work at Ashariarchar in Narayanganj triggered the gridlock around 8:00 am Friday, with the tailback stretching nearly 50km to Eliotgonj in Daudkandi and lasting into Saturday noon.
Thousands of passengers and drivers were left stranded.
Passengers said women, children and elderly people were particularly distressed by the intense heat, while many struggled to find food and drinking water.
Passengers of Mujahid Paribahan, travelling from Chattogram to Bagerhat, said they were stuck at Eliotganj around 2:30am and managed to travel only about 10km to Amirabad by 8am.
Surma Paribahan driver Ripon Mia said, “The Dhaka-Chattogram Highway is one of the busiest roads in the country. Whenever repair work is carried out here, effective measures should be taken in advance to control traffic congestion.”
Bhaberchar Highway Police inspector Mohammad Shamim said, “The traffic jam occurred after repair work began on the Dhaka-bound lane at Ashariarchar. Highway Police are working to reduce the suffering of passengers and drivers.”
Highway Police said congestion in Narayanganj and Munshiganj began easing Saturday morning, though queues remained at toll plazas in Munshiganj and Daudkandi.
At 1pm, Daudkandi Crossing Police chief Premchand Ray said vehicles were still moving intermittently and police were working to keep traffic flowing.
.jpeg)
