A bus carrying about 50 people plunged into a major river in central Bangladesh while attempting to drive onto a ferry, leaving at least 26 people dead, authorities said Thursday.
The bus went into the Padma River on Wednesday afternoon in Rajbari district, approximately 84 kilometers (52 miles) from the capital, Dhaka, according to fire official Dewan Sohel Rana.
Sultana Akhter, the local top government administrator, said at least 26 people were killed in the accident. She added that authorities were handing over the bodies to their families on Thursday.
The bus was traveling to the capital from the southwestern district of Kushtia as people returned to work following the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr.
Rana said many passengers swam to safety after the accident, while others became trapped.
A rescue vessel joined the operation late Wednesday and lifted the bus, he said, with rescuers working overnight to recover bodies. Strong currents and rains disrupted the rescue efforts overnight, he added.
It remained unclear whether anyone was still missing.
According to the Fire Service and Civil Defense Department, 11 women and five children were among the dead.
Thousands of people die each year in road accidents in Bangladesh.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
