Fatal train crash in Narsingdi
Thursday, 9 December 2010
FE Report
Two passenger trains collided at Narsingdi railway station Wednesday in a fatal accident that left at least 21 people dead.
More than 200 injured were admitted to three hospitals -- District Hospital, Sadar Hospital and private Prime General Hospital.
Our correspondent in Narsingdi said the number of casualties would go up since he saw more bodies at the scene.
The accident took place around 5pm when Dhaka-bound Chattala Express and Chittagong-bound Mahanagar Godhuli collided, due to wrong signal.
The Chattala Express ran over Mohanagar Godhuli Express, smashing five bogies of both trains. The accident pushed away part of Mohanagar Express.
Thousands of people thronged the railway station immediately after the incident and tried to rescue passengers from the trains.
Narsingdi police superintendent Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan said: "Seven bodies have been recovered so far. Four of those are kept at Narsingdi Sadar Hospital and three on the spot."
Rescue operations by fire brigade, police, and local officials were continuing till 6-35pm.
Train services on the Dhaka-Chittagong route remained suspended since the accident.
Officials at the station were not seen around as they left their workplaces after the accident. Agitating people surrounded the station.
The accident was assumed to have taken place due to the "negligence of duties" by assistant station master of Narsigdi railway station ATN Musa.
But bdnews24.com quoted an unidentified official at the station as saying that the collision occurred as there was 'a mistake in the signal'.
The Dhaka-bound train was supposed to pass through without a halt while another was to wait at the station to allow another to pass by, he said.
"But the trains collided since the signal was wrong," he added.
A 10-person-strong rescue team led by railway's deputy assistant director Dilip Kumer Bose left the capital for the scene. "We'll reach in an hour," he told a private news agency.
Local officials said a salvage train from Dhaka reached the spot.
He expressed the hope that train operations on the Dhaka-Chittaging route would be back to normal by 11:30 pm.
Communications minister Abul Hossain, posts and telecommunications minister Razi Uddin Ahmed Raju, roads and highways secretary Mozammel Haque Khan and railway director general T A Chowdhury rushed to the spot.
Narsinghdi DC Omrita Baroi, police super Dr Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan, Sadar UNO Sharmin Jahan, Narsingdi Red Crescent secretary Haji Abdus Sattar oversaw the rescue operations.
Two passenger trains collided at Narsingdi railway station Wednesday in a fatal accident that left at least 21 people dead.
More than 200 injured were admitted to three hospitals -- District Hospital, Sadar Hospital and private Prime General Hospital.
Our correspondent in Narsingdi said the number of casualties would go up since he saw more bodies at the scene.
The accident took place around 5pm when Dhaka-bound Chattala Express and Chittagong-bound Mahanagar Godhuli collided, due to wrong signal.
The Chattala Express ran over Mohanagar Godhuli Express, smashing five bogies of both trains. The accident pushed away part of Mohanagar Express.
Thousands of people thronged the railway station immediately after the incident and tried to rescue passengers from the trains.
Narsingdi police superintendent Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan said: "Seven bodies have been recovered so far. Four of those are kept at Narsingdi Sadar Hospital and three on the spot."
Rescue operations by fire brigade, police, and local officials were continuing till 6-35pm.
Train services on the Dhaka-Chittagong route remained suspended since the accident.
Officials at the station were not seen around as they left their workplaces after the accident. Agitating people surrounded the station.
The accident was assumed to have taken place due to the "negligence of duties" by assistant station master of Narsigdi railway station ATN Musa.
But bdnews24.com quoted an unidentified official at the station as saying that the collision occurred as there was 'a mistake in the signal'.
The Dhaka-bound train was supposed to pass through without a halt while another was to wait at the station to allow another to pass by, he said.
"But the trains collided since the signal was wrong," he added.
A 10-person-strong rescue team led by railway's deputy assistant director Dilip Kumer Bose left the capital for the scene. "We'll reach in an hour," he told a private news agency.
Local officials said a salvage train from Dhaka reached the spot.
He expressed the hope that train operations on the Dhaka-Chittaging route would be back to normal by 11:30 pm.
Communications minister Abul Hossain, posts and telecommunications minister Razi Uddin Ahmed Raju, roads and highways secretary Mozammel Haque Khan and railway director general T A Chowdhury rushed to the spot.
Narsinghdi DC Omrita Baroi, police super Dr Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan, Sadar UNO Sharmin Jahan, Narsingdi Red Crescent secretary Haji Abdus Sattar oversaw the rescue operations.