Sixteen people were killed and more than 60 injured in separate collisions between trains and buses in unguarded level crossings in Jessore and Comilla on Saturday, the police and hospital sources said.
Eleven people were killed and 30 injured when the Subarna Express train headed for Dhaka from Chittagong bumped into a bus, headed for Comilla, in the Shashidal level crossing at Brahmanpara in Comilla.
Local people said the train had hit the rear of the Gumti Paribahan bus about 10:40am, sending it flying a few yards before it came down with a thump near the outer signal to the south of the Shashidal railway station.
Local people brought out four dead from the wrecked bus. Four others were found dead in a bordering pond.
Three of the injured died on their way to hospital. Witnesses said a number of ambulances carried the injured to Comilla General Hospital. The police also joined the rescue operation.
Ten of the deceased who could be identified were Faisal, 17, Anu Miah, 50, Majeda, 60, Zamir, 10, Salauddin, 45, Abul Hossain Khalifa, 55, Alauddin, 45, Nahid, 17, Harun Miah, 52, and Abu Kaisar, 30.
The identity of the other could not be established immediately.
Senior officials of the district and police administrations visited the spot soon after the accident.
The New Age correspondent in Jessore said the Chitra Express rammed into a bus in the level crossing at Rajarhat, killing four passengers. Three of them died on the spot. The other died on his way to Jessore General Hospital.
Local people said the level crossing was unguarded as the temporary gateman was sleeping when the train hit the bus of AK Paribahan, headed for Satkhira from Dhaka, tossing it into a ditch 25 feet off the Jessore-Satkhira Road about 5:30am.
Momtaz Begum, 32, Al Helal Bappi, 23, and Debbrata Das, 25, died on the spot. Minto, 35 and an unnamed man died in the hospital, the police and hospital said.
Fire fighters from the nearby station rushed to the spot and with the help of local people rescued the injured and sent them to hospital.
Eighteen of the passengers were admitted to Jessore General Hospital. Four of them were reported to be in a critical condition.
Survivors said most of the passengers were asleep and some woke up only to find themselves in hospital.
Bangladesh Railway officials said a three-member committee, headed by divisional transportation officer Mohammad Shah Newaz, had been instituted to investigate the accident in Comilla.
Authorities also instituted a five-member committee, headed by Pakssey divisional transportation officer Sujit Kumar Biswas, to investigate the accident in Jessore.
Both the committees have been asked to submit reports in three days, railway officials said.
