BCL activist, attending PM's reception, dies after being hit by train at Khilkhet

An activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) from Narayanganj has died after being hit by a train in Dhaka's Khilkhet.

Ismail Hossain Hridoy, 27, of Rupganj, had come to the capital to join the public reception for the prime minister thrown by the Awami League.

Kamalapur GRP OC Abdul Majid said Hridoy was standing on the railway tracks and speaking on mobile phone at Khilkhet level-crossing around 6pm on Friday.

He was severely injured when he was hit by Chitra Express, coming from Khulna, Majid said.

Other BCL activists then rushed Hridoy, an aspirant for BCL Rupganj unit presidency, to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Doctors there declared him dead around 8pm, said DMCH police outpost's Sub-Inspector Bacchu Mia.

Hridoy was a student at Muraparha Degree College at Rupganj, said Emdadul Haque, private secretary to local MP Golam Dastagir Gazi.

"We heard that he had gone to Dhaka to attend the reception for the prime minister."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned home on Friday evening, ending a 17-day visit to Canada and the United States.

Leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliate organisations had lined up along the road from Shahjalal International Airport from Hasina's Ganabhaban residence since the afternoon to give her a public reception.

Many areas in the capital were clogged with heavy traffic as the ruling party supporters descended on the streets in their thousands.