Sonar Bangla Express derailed five carriages after the passenger train rammed a parked freight train from behind at Nangalkot in Cumilla, injuring at least 50 people.
Train services between Dhaka and Chattogram have been halted as a result of the accident. Jamal Hossain, the station master at Nangalkot, verified the incident to Prothom Alo.
The accident happened around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday at Hasanpur railway station in Nangalkot, Cumilla. The injured whose identities could not be established immediately were brought to several hospitals for treatment, including the Nangalkot upazila health complex.
Six of the injured are in critical condition.
A Dhaka-bound freight train was stationed at Hasanpur railway station, according to several railway officials and villagers.
Around 6:30 p.m., a passenger train, Sonar Bangla Express, collided with a freight train from behind, entering the latter’s track incorrectly, resulting in the derailment of five carriages.
A railway employee, who requested anonymity, stated that the tragedy occurred owing to a lack of signal from the railway station. The railway authority inquired as to how a passenger train could access the track where a freight train was stationed.
Following the accident, the railway officials of Cumilla and Laksam reached the scene. An inspection team from Chattogram headed towards the spot.
Nangalkot upazila Nirbahi officer Rayhan Mahebub told Prothom Alo that “I rushed to the railway station upon hearing the news. At least 50 passengers of Sonar Bangla train were wounded in this accident. Of them, 20 received treatment at a pharmacy in Dhalua while others were sent to different hospitals in Cumilla and Laksam.
