An unholy race between buses tears two sisters apart

Like any other day, two sisters — Tasnim Jahan Irene and Nusrat Jahan Zerin — were heading toward their office Next Venture in Uttar Badda on an auto-rickshaw from Mirpur.
They reached there around 9:15am and were about to cross Pragati Sarani, one of Dhaka’s busiest thoroughfares, unaware that their lives were about to change forever.
Unbeknownst to them, two buses from Akash Paribahan were racing on the same road, reckless in their desperation to overtake each other in a bid for passengers.
One bus violently slammed into the other, trying to get ahead, and in the process, it ran over both the sisters, witnesses said.
Irene, a business development executive, died on the spot. Her life, full of promise, was cruelly snatched away in the blink of an eye due to reckless driving.
Jerin, a staffer of the same institution, survived narrowly with injuries to her legs. She was taken for treatment to a nearby private hospital.
“The two sisters lived and worked together… but a reckless driver tore them apart,” said Saima Sultana, the victims’ sister-in-law, her voice heavy with grief as she spoke to The Daily Star.
Family members shared that Irene, a former student of Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, was the first to join the IT firm. Her elder sister soon followed in her footsteps. Together, they built their careers, until this tragic day that shattered their bond.
“The two buses were racing for quite some time. They slammed into each other at least three times before one of the buses, whose registration number was Dhaka Metro-Ba 130189, hit another and ran over the sisters,” Anika Tabassum, a passenger of the other Akash Paribahan bus that was recklessly racing, told The Daily Star.
“The girl was killed due to the reckless driving of the buses. Irene was stuck under the wheels of the bus,” Anika, a private university student, said. She suffered injuries to her neck as the two buses struck each other during their race.
Notably, there were no foot over-bridges near the spot where the incident occurred.
Sub-inspector Fatema Siddika of Badda Police Station confirmed that the accident occurred as the two bus were racing each other.
Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of the police station, said they seized the bus that was involved in the accident.
The driver and helper fled immediately after the accident. But police later arrested driver Milon Hossain Mintu, 50, during a raid in Moddho Badda area in the afternoon, he said.
The process of filing a case is underway.