A van veered off the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Narsingdi's Raipura upazila and ploughed into a group of people walking along the high-speed corridor on Thursday morning, killing five of them -- all of them locals.
Police suspect the van driver dozed was asleep while driving.
The victims have been identified as Farukh Mia from Raipura, 'Mustakim' from Nilkhuthi, Shahjahan Mia from Paglabari, and Mahmudabad-natives Ripon Mia and Bacchu Mia.
The accident occurred around 8am when the driver suddenly lost the control of the speeding van and hit the pedestrians near the Mahmudabad Bazar Machine House area, leaving two of them dead on the spot, said Mozammel Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bhairab highway police station.
Three others passed away on the way to hospitals in Bhairab and Dhaka.
The bodies have been kept at the hospital morgue for post-mortem, the OC added. "Legal steps are underway in this regard."