Nine compartments of 11 Up/12 Down Drutajan Express running between Dhaka and Dinajpur derailed on the Jamuna Multipurpose Bangabandhu Bridge on the river Jamuna on Sunday night, snapping train communications between the Railway’s East and the West Zones.
Fifty passengers were injured in the incident.
Railway sources said that the train was going to Dinajpur from Dhaka. But when it reached near pillar No 56 of the bridge at about 11:15 pm, nine of its compartments derailed. Sources said that a strong storm was blowing at that time.
The derailed coaches tilted towards the bridge’s west side. On receipt of the information, police and fire service men moved rushed to the spot. A train passenger said, “We were in the state of drowsy. Suddenly we heard a jerk and awoke up and became bemused.”
The local people rushed to the scene and were scared. They said that had the train tilted to the east, many compartments could have fallen into the river Jamuna, causing great disaster. Luckily the train escaped a major accident.
Following the incident, train communications remained suspended between Dhaka and the northern and the southern districts until it was restored at 5pm on Monday.
Senior railway officials from West Zone, Rajshahi, Paksey Division, Sirajganj Deputy Commissioner Billah Hossain and Superintendent of Police (SP) SM Emran Hossain visited the spot. The Railway relief train reached the accident venue to remove the damaged bogies from the line and restored train communications between the East and West Zones of Bangladesh Railway.
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has constituted a 4-member inquiry committee early Monday with ADGI Amzad Hossain as team leader, to discover the reasons behind the Sunday night’s train accident on the Jamuna Multipurpose Bangabandhu Bridge, according to the Ministry sources.
Railway Minister Mujibul Haque gave order to form the inquiry committee after visiting the accident venue in Sirajganj district.
The committee has been asked to submit its report within next three days. Other members of the committee are ADG Shah Jahir Islam, GM (Railway West) Awal and ADRS Khalilur Rahman.
Earlier, the Rail Minister reached the Bangabandhu Bridge from Dhaka at about 3:10 am and ordered to form the inquiry committee.
The Minister told the journalists on the spot that the accident occurred due to a violent storm.
Railway Ministry Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of Bangladesh Railway Tofazzal Hosain and senior officers concerned accompanied the Minister.
Following the incident, train communications were disrupted between Dhaka and northern districts.
The train communications, however, which was suspended since Sunday night following a train accident, resumed on Monday afternoon, railway sources said.
Bangladesh Railway, West Zone, General Manager Abdul Awal Bhuiyan said that the rescue operation was completed in the afternoon at 5pm.
