All aboard: Desperate Eid travellers take dangerous train journeys

Thousands upon thousands are racing home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with their families and love ones, but some of them are risking their lives to reach their destinations.

They are packing into trains and onto the rooftops for the journey like every year as spots inside the coaches get filled up in a blink during the mad Eid rush.

On Friday, a day after the last working day before the Eid holidays, passengers scrambled to board when the trains reached the Airport Railway Station from Kamalapur Railway Station in the capital.

Some of the holidaymakers went as far as clinging onto the side of the trains, hanging from the doors and window grills.

Those who could not make it either had no other choice than clambering on top of the train carriages.

bdnews24.com spoke to some of them and they said they want to celebrate the Eid with their families at any rate.‎

"There is no alternative. I must return home," said Harun-or-Rashid from the rooftop of a Rangpur Express coach.

Those already on the rooftops were helped fellow travellers climbing up onto the roof of the carriages.

The travellers were a happy lot despite the dense crowds and risk of accidents.

Little girl Tania Akter said she was travelling to Sirajganj with her parents to share the Eid joys with her grandparents and other relatives.

"Mama (maternal uncle) will buy me many toys. My uncle has bought a dress for me. It'll be fun!" she said, her face glistening with excitement.

Raihan Sharif, a bank executive, said he was going to Bogra where his wife and children live. "I'll forget all the sufferings once I see my children," he said.

Though it is illegal to travel on the roof of trains, law enforcers cannot not do anything especially this time of the year.

"Threatening the passengers with legal actions did not work," said Railway Police Sub-Inspector Salah Uddin Bhuiyan.