Dhaka, Oct. 23 -- It appeared that the van was crossing the highway, said Mosaddek Ali, chief of Bangabandhu Bridge West Police Station.

In Bangladesh, non-motorised three-wheelers are banned from highways, where heavy vehicles are allowed to run at a high speed. But the slow-moving vehicles keep running on the highways despite the ban, pushing up the number of deadly accidents.

Unskilled drivers, slow speed, technical flaws and improper brakes in these vehicles make them vulnerable to accidents on the roads dominated by trucks and buses.

Even if the three-wheel vehicles are allowed to run on the local streets, they should be brought under regulation, people in the transport sector said. The vehicles must be registered and the drivers ...