The trailer truck hit by an inter-district train in Chittagong’s Sitakunda had been stranded at the level crossing.
Published : 25 Aug 2015, 03:49 PM
One died in the mishap, two were injured.
The driver jumped out and ran for dear life minutes before the train hit the trailer on its tracks around 5:15am on Tuesday.
Railway’s East Zone Manager Mofizur Rahman told bdnews24.com, “The driver fled leaving the trailer truck on the tracks. The train rammed into the truck soon after."
The engine and four compartments of the Chittagong-bound Bijoy Express from Mymensingh went off track from the impact snapping rail links of the port city for nearly six hours.
Railway officials said locals claimed they tried to push the trailer truck off the tracks using another vehicle but it did not work.
The heavily-loaded truck was headed for a powder milk factory named ‘Today’ in Anantapur area. The level crossing was just east of Barahbkunda Bazaar.
Locals said there were no lineman at the crossing at the time of the accident or even at 9am, by when the salvage operation had started.
Rail official Rahman did not have much to say about that. “Two linemen are assigned to this crossing. There was a lineman there at the time. He might have wandered away.”
Railway authorities have formed a three-member team to probe the accident and submit a report as soon as possible.
East Zone Divisional Transport Officer Firoz Iftekhar, Divisional Mechanical Engineer Saiful Islam and Divisional Engineer Abidur Rahman will man the probe.