RAJSHAHI, Jan 26, 2026 (BSS)- Three people, including a university student, were killed in a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a battery-run auto-rickshaw in Puthia upazila of Rajshahi.

The deceased student was identified as Shanto Islam, a student of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) department at Barendra University, a private university in Rajshahi. He was the son of Abul Hossain, a resident of the area adjacent to the timber market in Puthia upazila.

Another unidentified woman and a man also died while being taken to the hospital with injuries. 

The accident occurred around 5:00 pm on Sunday in the Pollapukur area on the Rajshahi-Natore highway. Quoting eyewitnesses, police said a passenger bus heading towards Rajshahi collided head-on with an auto-rickshaw heading towards Puthia.

The auto-rickshaw was completely mangled in the crash, killing student Shanto Islam on the spot. Other passengers in the auto-rickshaw were critically injured.

Upon receiving the information, police and Fire Service personnel rescued the injured and took them to Rajshahi Medical College (RMCH) Hospital, where doctors declared a woman and a man dead. 

Shankar Kumar Biswas, in-charge of the emergency department at RMCH, said the bodies of the unidentified woman and a man have been kept at the hospital morgue. Other injured are currently receiving treatment in the orthopedics and neurosurgery wards.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Paba Highway Police Station, Mozammel Haque, confirmed the incident.