An overturned oil wagon lies in a canal beside the tracks after a fuel-carrying train derails near Montola Railway Station in Habiganj's Madhabpur upazila, disrupting Sylhet rail links for nearly 18 hours before communication is restored on Thursday afternoon. — Focus Bangla HABIGANJ, Apr 2 (UNB): Rail communications between Sylhet and the rest of the country resumed on Thursday afternoon, after 17 hours of suspension following the derailment of an oil-laden train in Habiganj.
Noapara Railway Station Master Md Monir Hossain said the train movement resumed around 3:15 pm after the derailed wagons of the train were retrieved and the track was repaired.
Five wagons and the guard's van of the Chattogram-bound fuel train from Sylhet veered off the track around 9:45pm on Wednesday near Mantala Railway Station in Madhabpur upazila.
One of the wagons plunged into a roadside ditch. However, no casualties were reported.
The accident led to the cancellation of and delay in operations of several trains on the Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Chattogram routes, causing suffering for passengers.
There were approximately 2,00,000 litres of fuel in the five wagons, said Dhaka Divisional Manager of Bangladesh Railway ABM Kamruzzaman.
Meanwhile, a five-member committee has been formed to look into the derailment.
Witnesses said a loud noise was heard at the time of the derailment, drawing crowds to the scene.
Some locals attempted to siphon fuel from the overturned wagons, but members of law enforcement agencies, including Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), intervened to prevent theft and secure the area.
Lt Col Tanzilur Rahman, commander of BGB's 55th Battalion in Habiganj, on Thursday morning said they responded promptly and stopped the looting attempt. Fire Service personnel and other authorities assisted in the recovery efforts.
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