A man was killed and two others were injured when a Chittagong-bound train rammed into a container truck yesterday at Sitakunda.
Police sources said the on-duty gateman’s negligence might have led to the accident in which four compartments and the locomotive of the train derailed, snapping rail communication with Chittagong nearly 6 hours.
Himangsu Das Rana, Chittagong Railway Police Outpost OC, said dead Md Azgar, 27, was a fish trader from Laksam in Comilla. He died at the spot after Bijoy Express rammed into the lorry containing powdered milk.
Azgar’s nephew Md Mainuddin was among the two injured and was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. The identity of the other injured could not be known.
Locals said no passenger of the train was injured in the accident.
A rescue train later went to the spot and removed the derailed compartments from the scene around 11am.
Railway authorities formed a three-member probe committee led by Divisional Engineer Abidur Rahman to investigate the matter and asked it to submit a probe report as soon as possible.
Visiting the spot, officials found that the lorry’s wheel got stuck in the track. The lorry’s driver might have abandoned the vehicle and fled sensing that a train was approaching.
“Though two gateman were on-duty none of them were found during the visit,” DRM Mofizur told the Dhaka Tribune.
Sitakunda Railway Station’s Assistant Station Master Nure Alam said: “As the Barabkunda Railway Station was shut for a long time they could not communicate with the on-duty gatemen. We signaled green to the train as no objection was found from the next station.”
“Later, after half an hour, we came to know about the incident,” he added.
Meanwhile, four scheduled trains from Chittagong city to the capital and other part of the country left the station after being delayed for several hours.
On February 12 in this year, a person was killed and at least 15 were injured when a train rammed a bus in the Chittagong city’s AK Khan area at Ispahani Rail crossing.
