Train services resume 5 hours after Cumilla accident

Rail communication between Chattogram and rest of the country returned to normal about five hours after a train accident at Paduar Bazar railway crossing in Cumilla.

Train movement resumed around 8:00am on Sunday after a rescue train reached the accident site and cleared the recovery operation.

The rescue train recovered the Dhaka Mail train and removed the stranded bus from the railway track, allowing services to restart.

Divisional Railway Manager of Chattogram division, Mostafizur Rahman, confirmed the development, saying swift efforts were made to restore normal rail operations.

Earlier on Saturday, at least 12 people were killed and eight others injured as a train rammed into a passenger bus at a level crossing in Cumilla.

The accident took place at Paduar Bazar railway crossing on the Dhaka–Chattogram Highway shortly before 3:00am, said Inspector Saiful Islam of Cumilla EPZ Outpost.

A Dhaka-bound mail train from Chattogram smashed into a Mamun Special bus travelling from Chuadanga to Lakshmipur. The train dragged the mangled bus for nearly a kilometre after the collision.

On information, members of Fire Service and Railway Police rushed to the spot and rescued the injured, sending them to Cumilla Medical College Hospital.

Police said the bus might have entered the railway track before the crash. However, the exact cause of the accident could not be confirmed immediately.

Fire Service Deputy Assistant Director Mohammad Idris said three bodies were recovered from the scene, while several others had been taken out earlier by police and locals.

Ajay Bhowmik, medical officer at the emergency department of Cumilla Medical College Hospital, said 12 people were brought dead, including a child and a few women.

At least eight injured persons are undergoing treatment at the hospital, many with severe head injuries.

An injured passenger, Omar Faruk, said he was asleep when the bus suddenly jolted.

“After the crash, I saw the bus crushed. I lost consciousness and later found myself in the hospital,” he said.