The train service of Dhaka with other parts of the country has resumed five hours after it was halted due to a train accident in Tongi.
Four passengers were killed and at least 26 injured after a Dhaka-bound train from Jamalpur derailed at Notunbazar area in Tongi around 12:15pm on Sunday.
Train service from Dhaka to Chattogram, Sylhet, Mymensingh and north and south via the Bangabandhu Bridge was halted after the accident.
Tongi Station Master Halimuzzaman said relief trains came and cleared the line from Dhaka and allowed service to resume, reports UNB.
Bangladesh Railway Additional Inspector General Md Mia Zahan said the Ishakha Express, which was scheduled to leave Dhaka at 11:30am, was delayed due to the accident.
The train set off for Tongi at 5:30pm after the line was cleared.
Railways Minister Md Mazibul Hoque said that an initial investigation suggests that the signal man gave the warning signal too late, but that it is a matter for the probe to confirm.
Railway Eastern Region Chief Engineer Md Arifuzzaman leads the three-member committee that is to submit its report on the accident within three days.
The Jamalpur commuter train had the accident almost immediately after it left the Tongi junction, said Joydebpur Railway Outpost SI Rakibul Haque.
“The last four carriages derailed and the speed of the train caused it to continue on for some distance. Two of the carriages overturned at this point,” he said.
The people on the roof of the carriages were thrown off when the train derailed, killing three on the spot and injuring several others, said Kamlapur Railway Police Station OC Md Yaseen.
Seven victims were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Md Shahadat, 38, was announced dead, said DMCH Medical Outpost ASI Babul Mia.
The six others admitted to the hospital are Badol, 28, Shobuj, 40, Israfil, 12, Alamgir, 32, Badol, 50, and Md Sharif, 28.
A total of 26 people injured in the accident were treated at Tongi’s Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital, said Emergency Division Doctor Md Iram Shahriar.
The fire service recovered the three bodies from the scene and have handed them over to police. Their identities have yet to be confirmed.