Angry mob set fire to four buses and vandalised around 50 others in Gazipur on Tuesday night amid rumour of the deaths of four ready-made garment workers in a road accident.

The agitated people blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in the Hariken area for an hour and a half.

The police said that four people were injured during the competition between two buses around 7:00pm.

Gazipur Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Alamgir Hossain said that  two buses from Anabil Paribahan heading towards Dhaka were competing to overtake each other. One of the competing buses crashed into pedestrians waiting at the roadside.

Four people were injured in the accident.
The injured include three women and a man, he said,  adding that details of their identities could not be confirmed immediately.

The injured were rushed to Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College.

They were later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in critical condition, said Ashraf Hossain, a physician at Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College

As word spread that the injured victims had died, hundreds of people flocked to the streets and began vandalising buses, according to DC Alamgir.

The agitated people blocked the highway for an hour and a half until 8:30pm, halting traffic movement on the major highway, said the police officer.

Locals said that at least six buses were set on fire.

Joydebpur fire service senior station officer Tasharaf Hossain said that they had doused flames in four buses from Anabil Paribahan, Balaka Paribahan, Azmeri Paribahan, and Ujanbhati Paribahan.

Police said that around 50 buses were also vandalised by the mob.

DC Alamgir said that they could convince the angry people to withdraw their blockade, allowing traffic to resume on the highway.