Student, police, firefighters help homeless mother deliver baby on moving train

Prompt action by police, firefighters, and a university student ensures safe delivery aboard the Haor Express

In the dead of night, a life-threatening emergency unfolded aboard a speeding train as a 24-year-old woman went into labour.

Police, firefighters, and a university student rushed to her side, helping bring a healthy baby into the world before the train even reached Mymensingh station.

The mother and her newborn baby are safe now, police and fire service officials said.

The incident took place around 2am on Wednesday on the Haor Express train bound for Mohongonj in Netrokona from the capital, said Mymensingh Railway Police chief Md Akter Hossain.

“A call to the nationwide emergency number 999 reported that the train had an expecting mother in labour pain,” he said.

He added that a fire service team immediately rushed an ambulance to Mohangonj Railway Station, but the woman gave birth just minutes before the train reached the station.

Railway officials said the mother had boarded the train in Dhaka with her 4-year-old child.

When the train passed Gafargaon Railway Station, she began experiencing severe labour pains, they added.

Dhaka University law student Solaiman Hossain Robi, who assisted during the delivery, recalled: “As she was in severe pain, I called two women from the compartment to help complete the delivery.”

Robi, also a student leader, said both mother and newborn were later transported to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital with the support of police and firefighters.

Following treatment early Wednesday morning, the woman and her child were taken away by her husband, officials said.