Staff Reporter :
At least 16 passengers were killed and more than 100 others injured as Dhaka-bound Intercity Train Turna Nishita Express crashed into Chattogram-bound Udayan Express from Sylhet at Mondobhag Railway Station in Kasba upazila of Brahmanbaria early Tuesday.
The death toll may rise as many injured men were admitted to different hospitals and clinics with critical conditions.
“The Loco Master of Intercity Train Turna Nishita Express is responsible for the accident,” suspects Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan after visiting the spot of incident in the morning.
He said, “It was his (loco master) mistake that led the trains to crash for killing the passengers,” said Our Brahmanbaria Correspondent quoting the minister.
Turna Nishita’s Loco Master Taher Uddin, Assistant Loco Master Apu Dey and Guard Abdur Rahman have been suspended, the minister said.
Railways Ministry and the district administration will give Tk 1 lakh and Tk 25,000 to each of the dead victim’s family respectively, Nurul Islam said.
Besides, the injured will get Tk 10,000 from the ministry, said Shariful Alam, senior information officer of railways ministry.
Meanwhile, three probe committees have been formed to investigate the incident, the minister told reporters while visiting the spot around 11:00am.
Dhaka-bound Turna Nishita Express from Chattogram rammed Chattogram-bound Udayan Express from Sylhet at Mondobhag Railway Station around 3:00am, said Md Delwar Hossain, Loco Shed in-Charge of Akhaura Railway Junction. Turna Nishita Express hit bogie No. Jha of Udayan Express when the latter was changing its track at Akhaura Railway Junction, he said.
Shayamal Kanti Das, Officer-in-Charge of Akhaura Railway Police Station, said that 12 people died on the spot and many others suffered injuries in the train crash. Later, three people succumbed to their injuries at Brahmanbaria Sadar Hospital while another at Cumilla Sadar Hospital.
Among the injured, Mollah Mia, 25, was admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in the afternoon. Five other injured were taken to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Nitor), popularly called Pangu Hospital, in Dhaka, said Moni Sangkar, a doctor at the hospital.
The deceased have been identified as Mujibur Rahman, 55, and his wife Kulsum Begum, 30, of Hajiganj upazila; Farjana, 15, of Sadar upazila in Chandpur; Sohamoni, 3, of Brahmanbaria Sadar, and Jaheda Khatun, 30, of Akhaura in Moulvibazar; Yasin Arafat, 12, of Sadar upazila; Sujan Ahmed, 24, of Chunarughat upazila; Md Al Amin, 30, of Baniachang upazila, Ali Mohammad Yusuf, 32, of Sadar municipality and Adiba, 2, of Baniachang upazila in Habiganj district.
The bodies have been kept on the ground of a local school. Of them, bodies of Mujibur and his wife, Yasin Arafat, Sujan and Jaheda were handed over to their families, our Cumilla correspondent reports from the spot.
Meanwhile, the collision has suspended rail communications between Dhaka-Noakhali and Chattogram-Sylhet for about eight hours.
Dhaka’s train services with Chattogram also remained suspended for seven hours but the service resumed at 10:25am after the authorities cleared the track, said Railways Ministry information officer Shariful Alam.
Turna Nishita Express also left the spot for Dhaka around 10:48am.
Two relief trains from Akhaura and Laksam railway junctions rushed to the spot and conducted rescue operation.
Three committees-two by Railways Ministry and one by district administration-have been formed to investigate the incident. “The committees have been ordered to file the probe reports as soon as possible.
A four-member committee headed by Nazmul Islam, Operating Superintendent of Railways Ministry, has been formed and asked to submit the report as soon as possible, railways ministry’s Senior Information Officer Shariful Alam.
Nasir Uddin, Divisional Transport Officer (Chattogram) of the ministry, will lead another four-member committee, which has been asked to submit report within two days, he added.
District administration has also formed a body with Brahmanbaria Additional District Magistrate Nitu Morium as its chief, said B’Baria Deputy Commissioner Hayat-ud-Doula Khan.
They primarily assume that Turna Nishitha train entered the line defying signal and hit Udayan Express. But actually what was reason behind the incident, would be known after the investigation, he said.
