Rail communication was restored after an eight-hour halt as the Nasirabad Express, a Chittagong-bound train from Mymensingh, derailed when it collided with a cement truck at a level-crossing in Faujderhat in Chittagong on Thursday.
The accident occurred at about 4:30am. The engine along with two coaches of the train derailed from the track causing suspension of railway communication between Chittagong and Dhaka, Sylhet and other routes.
The accident disrupted six trains leaving from Chittagong Station whilst three others bound for Chittagong from Dhaka were also stuck at different stations.
Due to the suspension of rail communication, passengers faced acute sufferings and remained stranded at Chittagong Railway Station.
Tafazzal Hossain, general manager (east zone), Bangladesh Railway, Chittagong told New Age that rail communication at the level crossing resumed through an alternative track at about 12:30pm.
‘The rescue operation is in full swing to recover the coaches and engine of Nasirabad Express. Two rescue trains, one from Laksham and another from Chittagong’s Pahartali are carrying out the rescue operation’, Tafazzal Hossain added.
‘All trains to and from Chittagong will use the alternative track until the restoration work is completed’, Tafazzal said.
‘Dhaka-bound Subarna Express left Chittagong station around 12:30pm on Thursday followed by the Mohanagar Provati, another Dhaka-bound train at 1:30pm. Rail communication was restored between Chittagong and Dhaka, Sylhet and other routes’, informed AA Shamsul Alam, station manager of Chittagong Railway Station.
‘Only the schedule of Chandpur-bound Sagarika Express was cancelled, whilst six other schedules were disrupted due to the accident’, added the station manager.
A four-member committee headed by Shushil Kumer Halder, east zone divisional engineer (signal and telecommunication), had been formed to investigate the accident. The committee had been asked to submit the probe report within seven days.
The trucker, who was injured during the collision, was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
-With New Age input
