DHAKA, Feb 21: Fourteen people were electrocuted in a freak accident on Thursday after a bus carrying factory workers to a seaside picnic smashed into an electricity pole, an official said.

Thirteen bus passengers including six women and one child died, along with a pedestrian.

“After the collision, an electricity cable was hanging over the bus door and when a passenger tried to get out he got a shock. The other passengers were rushing to leave and they also got a shock one after another,” said local police inspector Mohammad Farhad.

Two other passengers suffered minor injuries but the others were all able to escape through a rear window, Farhad added.

The driver of the bus, packed with at least 45 garment workers enjoying a government holiday, lost control of the vehicle and hit the pole after colliding with an oncoming truck in southeastern Cox’s Bazar district.

Bus accidents are common in Bangladesh, where bus drivers from rival transport companies often compete for passengers.

—AFP