17 found dead in Bangladesh bus accident.

According to authorities, a bus crashed over a highway fence and into a roadside ditch on Sunday in Bangladesh, killing at least 17 and injuring up to 25.

The bus fell 30 feet (10 meters) into the ditch at 8:00 a.m. (0200 GMT), according to the police, who believe the driver lost control and hit the railing of a recently constructed major expressway.

“Seventeen people have died in the accident. The injured were sent to hospitals in the region,” local police chief Masud Alam told AFP after the crash in the southern district of Shibchar.

Bangladesh has a high rate of traffic accidents because of the country’s outdated, poorly maintained roadways, as well as its underqualified drivers.

9,951 fatalities in road accidents were a record in Bangladesh last year, according to a highway accident monitor.