At least three people, including a journalist’s wife, were killed and eight others critically injured as a commuter train hit a bus on TT Para level crossing near Kamalapur Railway Station in the capital last night.
One of the deceased was Nazmus Sadat Naju, 25, wife of Daily Janakantha subeditor AKM Obaidur Rahman while the identity of the two other victims, aged between 30 and 35, could not be known immediately.
Naju died from her injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital while the two bodies were kept at Kamalapur railway police station.
Officer-in-charge of Kamalapur railway police station Abdul Mazid said the accident took place around 10:30pm. The injured were rushed to the DMCH.
Police said the bus of Balaka Paribahan was heading towards Gazipur from Sayedabad Bus Terminal.
Shahinur Rahman, an eyewitness to the incident, told the Dhaka Tribune that as the train coming from Narayanganj was about to enter the Kamalapur Railway Station, the gateman pulled down the iron bar to stop the movement of vehicles on the level crossing.
“But the driver was in a hurry and he tried to cross the line before the train reaches, but in vain. Finally, the driver tried to avoid the collision, but the train hit the bus at that time,” he said.
Obaidur Rahman, who was also injured in the mishap, claimed that a portion of the iron bar was open and the bus driver used the space to reach the line.
However, the driver managed to flee the scene soon after the accident.
Railway’s Director General Tafazzel Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that a four-member committee would be formed to investigate the accident.
Turning down the claims of the journalist, he said, “It was the bus driver’s fault.”
After an hour of the incident, the wreckage of the bus was removed from the spot.
Traffic on the road was suspended for more than one and a half hours due to the accident.