Dhaka | A truck carrying iron rods and extra passengers overturned on a major highway early Monday in central Bangladesh, leaving at least 15 people dead and 10 others injured, police said.

The crash happened after the driver lost control around 5 am at Soratoil area in Tangail district, 83 kilometres (52 miles) northwest of the nation's capital, Dhaka, said local police chief Fuad Hossain.

Hossain said the truck was carrying hitchhiking passengers and travelling from Dhaka to the northern region as vacationers began travelling ahead of the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha on Thursday. The truck overturned and killed them at the scene, he said.

The official said most of the passengers were day labourers and were traveling to join their families for the festival.

Witnesses told TV stations that they rushed to the scene after hearing noise and started rescuing passengers who got trapped.

Road accidents kill thousands every year in the nation of more than 170 million people because of lax oversight of traffic rules, bad road conditions and unskilled driving.