Five furnace oil container wagons and a train engine were derailed yesterday at Faujdarhat Railway Station in Sitakunda upazila, Chittagong district.
Divisional Traffic Officer (DTO) Zakir Hossain of Bangladesh Railway (East) told Dhaka Tribune that the train, comprised of 20 fuel wagons and a train engine, overshot the track when it rushed the railroad switch after ignoring a signal to allow Chittagong-bound Udyon Express to use the switch first.
Parts of the track were uprooted and rail traffic to and from Chittagong was halted for six hours.
BR East authorities suspended Locomotive Master (LM) Uttam Kumar Bhattacharjee and Assistant Locomotive Master (ALM) Didar Hossain. They are on the run after the incident, BR East sources said.
BR authorities formed two four-member inquiry bodies led by BR East Chief Engineer Abdul Hai and DTO Zakir to look into the incident, sources said.
Dhaka Tribune, reporting from the site, found that LM Uttam was believed to be behind the derailment and had been responsible for several other derailment incidents on BR East services. He was implicated in a similar fuel wagon train derailment in the port city in July, 2013,
Abdul Hai said the five derailed wagons were carrying 1,50,000 litres of furnace oil. The Dhaka Tribune correspondent found the entire accident area and adjacent canals and farmland inundated in oil.
Residents of the area were concerned that the oil spill would seriously hamper their health and environment.
Eyewitness said residents were seen using buckets, pitchers and pots to collect the oil and put it to use.
A rescue train sent to clear a downlink track was able to restore service at around 1:15pm, Chittagong Railway Station station manager Md Abul Kalam Azad said.
Commuters complained of the long delay. Dhaka-bound Subarna Express passanger Mir Mostafizur Rahman said he had to wait six hours to finally begin his journey to his sister’s wedding.
“I am on my way to my sister’s wedding but am not sure whether I will make it in time,” he said.
On July 31, another furnace oil carrying wagon train was derailed in the Kalurghat bridge area of Chittagong city.
The accident caused an oil-spill into the Karnaphuli River.
That train was also driven by LM Uttam, authorities said. DTO Zakir alleged that LM Uttam was behind most of the train derailments suffered recently by BR East but that he was fully stable in his post.
When asked why LM Uttam was allowed to drive a furnace oil wagon after the previous derailment, railway officials did not comment.
BR East General Manager Mojammel Hoque said he would take action according to the findings of the probe reports.
