Derailment in Sirajganj snaps northern, south-western rail links to Dhaka

Dhaka’s rail links with the northern and south-western regions have been suspended after a train derailed in Sirajganj.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 Nov 2019, 09:21 AM
Updated : 14 Nov 2019, 02:16 PM

The Rangpur Express train’s engine and power car caught fire when it went off the tracks near the Ullapara Railway Station around 2:30pm on Thursday.

"It could take until midnight to clear the tracks and restore the rail links," said Shahidul Islam, chief operating superintendent of the railway authority (west).

No casualties have been reported so far.

Dhaka’s rail links to the northern and southern regions are suspended after a Rangpur Express train from the capital went off the tracks near the Ullapara Railway Station in Sirajganj on Thursday.

Firemen were working to douse the fire that erupted when the locomotive and three coaches went off the tracks, said Nadir Hossain, station officer of Ullapara's Fire Service.

Railway Secretary Md Mofazzel Hossain believes there might be a glitch in the signal system on the transferring lines that led to the derailment of the train.

The authorities formed three committees to investigate the accident and were waiting for the reports to confirm the reason behind the accident, he added. 

In the wee hours of Tuesday, a train crashed into another while changing tracks in Brahmanbaria’s Kasba, leaving 16 people dead and at least 50 others injured.