Rail services resume hours after collision between bus, train in Dhaka's Malibagh

No casualties were reported as the bus was empty

Railway services have resumed after the tracks were cleared in Dhaka's Malibagh in the wake of a collision between a Kamalapur-bound train and a bus at a level crossing.

As the bus was empty, casualties were avoided in the incident that occurred around 9pm on Wednesday.

But the route was blocked, snapping rail links between the capital and the rest of the country. Traffic in the city's DIT area also came to a standstill.

The movement of trains restarted around two hours after the incident, according to Dhaka Railway Police Station SI Mukhlesur Rahman.

Yusuf Ali, a trader who witnessed the incident, said the gateman at the crossing was unable to roll the bar down due to heavy traffic on the road.

The train approached at a slow pace, but the bus, operated by Shohag Paribahan, was already on the track by then.

The locomotive subsequently hit the bus and dragged it several feet down the tracks.

"There was a collision between a train and an empty Shohag Paribahan bus. But no one was injured," said Deputy Commissioner Md Shahidullah of the DMP's Ramna Division.

The train remained stuck on the track for almost two hours after the incident, according to SI Mukhlesur. Another Kamalapur-bound Dewanganj Express train was also left stranded.

As the track was blocked, train operations to and from Kamalapur were suspended.

Shohag Paribahan later removed its bus around 10:45pm, prompting the resumption of rail services shortly afterwards.