At least 622 people were killed and 1,652 others were injured in 613 road accidents across the country in May, according to a Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh report.

The association on Saturday issued a press release summarising its monthly report, which was based on a tally of incidents reported in the media.

It observed that the actual number of casualties could be several times higher, as many incidents were not reported in the media.

Motorcycle accidents caused significant numbers of deaths, said the report.

Motorcycle-involved accidents accounted for 221 road accidents, representing 36.05 per cent of the total accidents, resulting in 231 fatalities, or 37.13 per cent of the total deaths, and 219 injuries, accounting for 13.25 per cent of the total injuries.

In 42 railway accidents, 34 people were killed and 29 others were injured.

In 21 waterway accidents, 15 people were killed, 15 others were injured and seven remained missing.

Regarding the occupations of those who died, the victims included 136 drivers, 49 other transport workers, 110 pedestrians, 73 students, eight teachers, four members of different law enforcement agencies and three political leaders and activists.

Of the fatalities, 59 were children.

Division-wise, Dhaka division recorded the highest number of road accidents, with 180 incidents that killed 185 people and injured 558 others.

In Mymensingh division, the lowest number of road accidents — 27 — occurred, killing 38 people and injuring 67 others.

Regarding the nature of the accidents, the highest proportion, 42.08 per cent, resulted from head-on collisions, followed by vehicles crashing into other objects at 32.3 per cent, vehicles falling into roadside ditches after drivers lost control at 18.92 per cent, other causes at 5.54 per cent, collisions with trains at 0.81 per cent and scarves becoming entangled in vehicle wheels at 0.32 per cent.

According to the report, the highest proportion of road accidents, 44.69 per cent, took place on national highways, followed by 30.66 per cent on regional highways and 18.1 per cent on feeder roads.

Of the total accidents, 5.22 per cent occurred in the Dhaka metropolitan city and 0.48 per cent in the Chattogram metropolitan city.

The Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh identified several causes of road accidents in its report, including the unchecked movement of battery-run rickshaws and auto-rickshaws on highways, lack of road markings and signs as well as medians, faulty road design, violation of traffic rules, driving by unskilled and fatigued drivers, reckless driving, and unsafe travel on train roofs and goods-carrying vehicles due to the charging of extra fares by different transport operators.

The association urged the government to develop a modern bus network, provide updated training for drivers, build service lanes alongside highways, ensure proper road markings, signs and medians, strengthen the capacity of regulatory authorities and end the control of transport leaders over the sector.