Bangladesh's risky 'roof riders'

Trains providing public transportation in Bangladesh are usually filled beyond capacity.

So many people – mostly adolescents – who for one reason or another can not get a hold of a ticket, often illegally resort to the roof to get a ride.

But the ‘roof riding’ practice, which dates back to 1947, has become one of the leading causes of child deaths in the country because it often leads to accidents.

And as people visit their families for the Islamic holiday of Eid, the trains are even more overcrowded than usual.

Nicolas Haque reports from Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital.

[August 31, 2010]