Dhaka: Thousands of angry school students continued their protest for the seventh consecutive day demanding a crackdown on reckless driving and justice for the two teenage students killed by a speeding bus last week.
The protest brought the capital city to a standstill , blocking major intersections compelling the bus operators to suspend their services citing security reasons and exposing commuters in Dhaka to extreme difficulties. The protests demanding safer roads largely cut off Dhaka, the city of 18 million, from the rest of Bangladesh as bus owners said they stayed off the road fearing vandalism. Two teenage students — boy and a girl – were killed when two buses racing to collect passengers, a common occurrence in the city, struck them and wounding several others. One of the bus drivers fled the scene, although both were later arrested.
More than 4,200 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2017, a 25 per cent increase from 2016, according to private research group the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways. Bus services will resume once the situation returns to normal, said Bangladesh Bus Owners Association President Enayet Ullah Khan. The protest also affected Dhaka’s supply chain particularly in the kitchen market, spiralling prices.
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