Dhaka, March 18 -- With Eid drawing near, the journey home has turned perilous for hundreds of low-income workers in Savar, who are clambering onto cargo trucks in desperation as soaring bus fares and vanishing tickets shut them out of safer travel.

As the holiday exodus gathers pace, a steady flow of workers has poured onto highways in a bid to reunite with their families.

But for many, conventional transport has slipped out of reach, forcing them onto unsafe alternatives.

Roksana Akter, a garment worker, said: "I couldn't get a bus ticket, and even if I could, the fare was double. I have to go home with my family, so I'm forced to take a truck."

Scenes along the Dhaka-Aricha and Nabinagar-Chandra highways showed hundreds of passenge...