How a truck can bring a city to a halt
Police, after hours of frantic efforts, managed to remove the sand-laden truck from the road around 10:25am
At 7:30am on Wednesday, a truck carrying materials from the under construction third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport lost control and crashed into a road divider.
As the truck was fully loaded, there was no wrecker capable of removing it. At one point, another truck was brought in and the goods were transferred with the help of a crane.
By this time, however, three hours had elapsed since the accident and a long line of vehicles had formed from Gazipur to Bijoy Sarani in the capital.
Commuters suffered in the three-hour long gridlock, with many failing to reach their destinations on time.
This wasn't the first such incident. When heavy vehicles overturn or get into accidents, it usually stems in gridlocks.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is yet to be equipped to deal with this menace.
Badrul Hasan, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Police (Traffic-Uttara) of DMP, said the wreckers available to the police were only able to move light vehicles, not the heavier ones.
He also said such incidents happened every day on busy roads, often resulting in far-spreading traffic jams.
Expressing embarrassment, Badrul said when heavy vehicles got into accidents or were overturned, they would have to request private companies for the use of their cranes.
Shafiqur Rahman, ADC Police (Traffic Admin) DMP, however, told TBS, "Whenever there are accidents, we try to act very fast. But sometimes it takes time in certain areas. So, there are some delays."
Shafiqur also said most of the heavy vehicles get into accidents at night and it is usually due to the incompetence of the drivers.
