One woman was killed and seven other persons injured when three compartments of a Dhaka-bound train from Chittagong city derailed at Abu Nagar area of Mirsarai upazila yesterday noon.
The deceased was identified as Nasima Akhter, 35, hailing from Ramu upazila in Cox’s Bazar district.
Yasin Faruk, officer-in-charge (OC) of GRP police station at Chittagong Railway Station, said the victim’s body was recovered from under one of the toppled compartments and added that Nasima was sitting at the compartment’s door when the accident took place.
Sources at the Government Railway Police (GRP) said the injured were receiving treatment at the upazila hospital.
Mahbubul Alam, chief engineer of Bangladesh Railway (BR) East Zone, told Dhaka Tribune that three rear compartments of Dhaka-bound Karnaphuli Express, which left Chittagong Railway Station at around 11:00am, derailed at the area at around 12:30pm.
“The accident left a female passenger dead on spot and injured seven commuters,” he added.
He further added that initially authorities suspect that the derailment was caused when the gear box cover of a compartment was opened.
Receiving the information, a rescue train from the port city rushed to the spot and was working to clear the rail tracks,” A Samshul Alam, station manager of Chittagong Railway Station said while filing this report at 6:00pm.
He also said rail communication between Dhaka-Chittagong and Chittagong-Sylhet remained suspended for a short time; however, no train from Chittagong city to elsewhere in the country was delayed.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway has formed two probe committees to investigate the incident.
One committee, consisting five members, will be headed by Mahbubul Alam, will submit its probe report within the next three days.
The second four-member committee, formed by railway traffic department, will be headed by BR Chief Transport Officer Firoj Iftekhar and will submit its report by the same time.
