At least 11 passengers of a bus have died when a train crashed into it at a railway crossing at Jhenaidah’s Kaliganj early on Friday.
Train links between Khulna and the rest of Bangladesh remained snapped for around seven hours after the accident.
Officials said the train smashed the crowded bus, which was carrying a bride’s family and friends back from a wedding, at the Barobazar crossing.
At least 56 passengers of the ill-fated bus were injured, many seriously.
Doctors say the death toll may rise.
Jhenaidah’s Deputy Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said the ‘Simanta Express’ travelling to Khulna from Syedpur was passing by the Barobazar level crossing around 3:45am.
The bus drove on to the unmanned railway crossing without checking for the incoming train.
The crossing appears to have been unmanned and open.
“The train ploughed through the bus and dragged it for about 500 metres along the tracks,” Islam said.
Local people, fire service and police began rescuing the victims and retrieved nine bodies, mostly of children and women, from the spot.
Thirty of those wounded were taken to Jessore Medical College and Hospital and the rest were admitted to hospitals in Jhenaidah and Kaliganj.
One of them died at Kaliganj hospital while doctors said 10 others were in critical condition. Another death was reported later.
DC Shafiqul Islam the bus inmates were returning to Phulhari village of Shailakupa Upazila after the wedding ceremony overnight at Sako Mothonpur in Kaliganj.
Jenaidah SP Jahidul Islam said they were looking into whether the negligence of the gateman at the crossing caused the crash.
Train links between Khulna and the rest of Bangladesh were restored at around 11 am after a salvage train from Khulna hauled away the wreckage of the bus from the site of the accident.
Accidents such as these, frequent in Bangladesh, are blamed on the poor maintenance and human errors in the railways.
There are hundreds of unmanned crossings across the country, especially in remote areas.
Lack of resources limit efforts by rail authorities to staff the dangerous crossings around the clock.
Source: Bd news24
