Road crashes kill 360 students in first half of 2026, says passenger welfare body
At least 360 students were killed and 109 injured in 320 road accidents across Bangladesh during the first six months of 2026, according to the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, which urged authorities to strengthen road safety education to prevent further loss of young lives.
The figures were released on Saturday in a statement marking the 15th anniversary of the Mirsharai tragedy, one of the deadliest road accidents in the country's history.
The organisation said greater awareness among students, teachers and parents was essential to improving road safety and reducing casualties.
The statement, signed by the organisation's Secretary General Md Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, said the absence of regular road safety education and awareness campaigns continued to leave students vulnerable on the roads.
It added that many students are killed, injured or permanently disabled in traffic accidents every year despite repeated calls for preventive measures.
The organisation noted that the Mirsharai tragedy on July 11, 2011, in which a minitruck carrying schoolchildren veered off the road and plunged into a roadside ditch in Chattogram's Mirsharai upazila, claimed 45 lives, including dozens of students.
The accident remains the deadliest single road crash in Bangladesh's history. Fifteen years later, it said, comprehensive road safety awareness programmes targeting students have yet to become a regular feature in educational institutions.
According to the organisation's data, January recorded 57 accidents that killed 57 students and injured 22 others. In February, 39 accidents left 47 students dead and 11 injured. March saw 59 accidents, claiming 67 lives and injuring one student.
In April, 56 students were killed and 25 injured in 51 crashes, while May recorded the highest monthly death toll, with 73 students killed and 23 injured in 61 accidents. In June, another 60 students lost their lives and 27 were injured in 53 road accidents.
Road crashes remain one of Bangladesh's leading public safety challenges, with students among the most vulnerable road users because of unsafe crossings, speeding vehicles, inadequate traffic management around schools and weak enforcement of traffic regulations.
Fatal accidents involving schoolchildren have repeatedly sparked nationwide calls for stronger road safety measures, including the student-led protests that followed the deaths of two college students struck by a speeding bus in Dhaka in 2018.
To reduce student fatalities, the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity recommended introducing road safety lessons into school textbooks, organising regular awareness programmes in educational institutions, installing zebra crossings and traffic signs in front of schools, deploying trained Road Safety Guards to assist students in crossing roads safely, and establishing road safety committees comprising teachers and students at every educational institution.