New Delhi: A bus fell into the Padma River in Bangladesh, killing at least 16 people. The vehicle was reportedly trying to board into a transport ferry when the accident occurred. The accident happened in southwestern district of Rajbari at the Dauladia terminal on Wednesday evening.
16 dead, several missing
According to a report in ‘The Hindu’, the bus fell into the Padma river at around 5:15 pm on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Later a salvage vehicle, Hamza retrieved the bus using its cranes, from the water, said fire service officials. They confirmed that 14 bodies were found inside the bus.
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Later on 2 more bodies were recovered from the river, by divers. These were the bodies of 2 women in their late 50s and 60s. The rescue efforts went on for close to 6 hours and the bus could be pulled out of the water only by midnight, said officials.
The rescue operations are on to retrieve either the bodies of the dead passengers, or pull out those alive. There were at least 40 passengers onboard the bus, when it fell into the river.
The bus was bound for Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. The passengers, mostly children were returning to the capital after the Eid holidays.
PM orders enquiry
The Rajbari district administration said that PM Tarique Rahman personally enquired about the ongoing rescue operations. He has also ordered an investigation into the accident.
Police and rescue personnel said that around 11 passengers were either rescued or managed to swim to the shore. But several were still missing. Efforts were on to trace them, they added.
The Hindu, quoting the terminal supervisor Monir Hossain reported, “When the bus was heading towards the ferry from the pontoon, another smaller utility ferry hit the pontoon. It plunged into the river as the bus driver lost control of the steering.”
He added that the accident happened right before his eyes, but he could not do anything. A video of the incident is now going viral on the internet.
Reports said that several passengers of the bus were members of the same family. While some survived as they were standing outside the bus, when it fell into the river, many others perished.