At least 438 people were killed in road accidents across Bangladesh in June, with Dhaka division recording the highest number of crashes and motorcyclists accounting for nearly a third of the deaths, said the Road Safety Foundation (RSF), a non-government organisation, on Sunday.

In a statement, the RSF said the country witnessed 472 road accidents in June, leaving 428 people dead and 561 others injured. Among the deceased were 44 women and 56 children.

The findings were compiled from reports in nine national dailies, 17 national and regional online news portals, various electronic media outlets, and the organisation's own sources, as part of its monthly accident survey.

According to the report, Dhaka division recorded the highest toll with 116 accidents killing 118 people, while Mymensingh division saw the fewest, with 19 accidents claiming 16 lives. Within Dhaka city alone, 32 accidents left 24 people dead and 49 injured.

Motorcycle accidents remained a major concern, with 145 crashes killing 134 people, 30.59 percent of total fatalities, the RSF said. Pedestrians accounted for 91 deaths, or 20.77 percent of the total, while drivers and their assistants made up 57 deaths, or 13 percent.

The report also recorded nine waterway accidents that killed seven people and injured four, along with 21 railway accidents that left 18 dead and seven injured.

Breaking down accident locations, the RSF said 151 crashes (32 percent) occurred on national highways, 194 (41.10 percent) on regional roads, 64 (13.55 percent) on rural roads, 57 (12.07 percent) on city streets, and six (1.27 percent) elsewhere.

By vehicle type, trucks, covered vans, pickups, tractors, trolleys, lorries and drum trucks were involved in 25.66 percent of accidents, followed by passenger buses at 16.26 percent, motorcycles at 22 percent, three-wheelers (auto-rickshaws, CNGs, easy bikes, auto-vans and mishuks) at 19.77 percent, locally-made vehicles (nasimon, bhatbhati, tomtom, mahindra) at 5.59 percent, rickshaws and bicycles at 1.54 percent, microbuses, private cars and ambulances at 4.62 percent, and unidentified vehicles at 4.20 percent.

Division-wise, Dhaka accounted for the highest share of accidents at 24.57 percent, followed by Chattogram at 23.72 percent, Rajshahi at 18.43 percent, Rangpur at 10.16 percent, Khulna at 8.68 percent, Barishal at 5.93 percent, Sylhet at 4.44 percent, and Mymensingh at 4.02 percent.

The RSF identified several key causes behind the accidents, including faulty vehicles and roads, reckless driving, drivers' careless attitudes, lack of skills, physical and mental illness among drivers, absence of fixed wages and working hours, slow-moving vehicles plying on highways, reckless motorcycle riding by youths, poor public awareness and disregard for traffic laws, weak traffic management, capacity shortcomings at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), and extortion in the public transport sector.