Picnic trip turns fatal for three univ students

What was supposed to be a joyous trip to a picnic turned into a tragedy when three university students were electrocuted to death in a bus in Gazipur yesterday
The dead are identified as Mozammel Hossain Naeem, 24; Mostakim Rahman Mahin, 22; and Jobair Alam Shakib, 22, of Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in the district’s Boardbazar area.
At least 15 other students were also injured from electrocution, said police.
According to law enforcers and witnesses, around 400 students of IUT left the campus in the morning and were on their way to Matir Maya Eco Resort in Gazipur’s Sreepur upazila.
They were traveling in six BRTC double-decker buses and three microbuses, all of which passed through a regional road in front of the Udaykhali China Project in Telihati union around 11:00am.
Locals said double-deckers do not usually ply that particular road.
Almost all the vehicles passed the area safely, but one of the buses came into contact with a high-voltage overhead power line.
The entire body of bus was electrocuted.
The three students attempted to jump off the bus but were electrocuted after they came in contact with the vehicle’s body, said Shamim Ahmed, a local who witnessed the incident.
The three died on the spot, while the 15 injured were rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital and are in critical condition, said Joynal Abedin Mondal, officer-in-charge of Sreepur Model Police Station.
Contacted, Akmal Hossain, general manager of Mymensingh Palli Bidyut Samity-2, said the cable was set up along the road and was around 15 feet off the ground.
“It [the cable] has been there for around 20 years … Double-decker buses aren’t supposed to ply the road. We’re investigating the incident to know how the bus came contact with the cable.”
Khandaker Mahmudul, deputy general manager of Mymensingh Palli Biddyut Samity, said the overhead cable generates 11,000 volts of electricity.
“The bus might have come into contact with the cable when it was at the edge of the road to make way for another vehicle coming from the opposite direction,” he said.
Gazipur Deputy Commission Nafisa Arefin said the district administration has formed a four-member probe body, headed by its additional district magistrate, to investigate the accident.