Photo: Collected
Five people were killed and four others injured as a microbus fell into a pond after being hit by a train on Gerda Level crossing on Rjabari-Bhanga rail route in Sadar upazila of Faridpur district on Tuesday.
Four of the deceased were identified as Sayem, 40, son of Masum Sharif, Sadia Zahir, 45, Rani Sharif Bhuiya, 67 and Raihan, 11, all from Narayanganj district while the identity of another deceased could not be known immediately.
The Munshibazar-bound microbus from Gerda plunged into the pond near the rail tracks after the Dhaka-bound Madhumati Express train from Khulna hit it while it was passing the unauthorised level crossing around 12:15 pm, leaving three people dead on the spot and six others injured, said Superintendent of Police Abdul Jalil.
The injured were taken to Faridpur Medical College and Hospital where the doctors declared two of them dead. The microbus got smashed as the train dragged the microbus 100-150 yards along the tracks.
On information, a fire fighting unit rushed to the spot and recovered three bodies from the pond, said Nazrul Islam, senior station officer of Faridpur Fire Service. However, the firefighters managed to pull the microbus from the pond but no body was found inside it, he said.
Takdir Hossain, Station Master of Faridpur Rail Station, said there is no authorised level crossing in the area.
Deputy Commissioner Quamrul Hasan Molla, said financial assistance will be provided to the family members of the deceased. Unmanned and unauthorised level crossings have become death trap in various parts of the county.
According to 2022 data from the Railways Ministry, among the 2,822 rail crossings of Bangladesh Railway (BR), 1,354 are illegal and 2,258 are without gatemen.
Among the legal rail crossings, 904 are unmanned. BR data shows that almost 90 per cent of rail accidents happen at rail crossings. In the last one decade, a total of 936 accidents happened at the country's rail crossings, which took away a staggering 516 lives.
Among thousands of rail crossings spread all over the country, only 564 have gatemen, majority of whom is hired temporarily under different projects. Among these gatemen, only 331 are holding permanent positions.
Messenger/JRTarek
