Protests in Bangladesh as student dies in accident

Students in parts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country on Wednesday took to the streets in protest against a student's death in an incident of rash driving.

Thousands of students at various places blocked roads and streets for hours since Wednesday morning to press their demands including safety on roads, reported Xinhua news agency.

The student of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) died on the spot after he was run over by a bus on the highway linking Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the centre of Dhaka on Tuesday.

Faced with the agitating students' demand for strict road safety norms, Dhaka North City Corporation authorities on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of a footbridge where the university student was killed.

The police have detained the driver and his assistant responsible for the accident and seized the bus.

In Bangladesh, road accidents have reached an epidemic level in recent years.

In July last year, students in their tens of thousands brought parts of Dhaka to a standstill for days after two students were killed by a speeding bus in a similar fashion.

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

--IANS

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