More than 2,000 people died in road accidents in the first four months of this year, says figures released by a passenger welfare body.

The Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJSK) said on Monday that nearly 1,900 road accidents took place across the country between January and April.

In a media release, it said the statistics were based on incidents reported by the national and regional news outlets.

According to the body, as many as 1,917 people were killed and 5,558 were injured in the last four months in 1,871 road accidents.

Citing figures obtained from hospitals in six administrative divisions, it said that another 206 people died while being treated of injuries sustained in road crashes over the same period.

The numbers were higher over the same period in 2017. Between January and April last year, 1,765 road crashes left 1,979 dead and 4,727 injured.

BJSK says the number of road crashes were 1.6 percent higher than that of 2017 while fatalities rose by 1.44 percent and injuries grew by 8.31 percent.

The figures come amid reports of deaths and critical injuries, including in capital Dhaka due to chaos in transport sector, reckless driving and race among buses in the city to pick passengers.

*Another 206 people succumbed to their road crash injuries during the same time in hospitals.