Five killed as train hits bus

At least eight people, including two schoolgirls, were killed and 12 others injured in accidents in three districts yesterday.

Of them, five died as a train hit a three-wheeler at a level crossing in Rajbari around 12:30pm. Nine others were wounded, reports our Faridpur correspondent. 

Locals said the accident occurred since there was no gate at the level crossing. 

An express train bound for Gopalganj's Bhatiapara rammed the three-wheeler, locally known as Nosimon, while the vehicle was passing through Solakura level crossing in Baliakandi area, they said.

Three died on the spot while two others died from wounds at Faridpur Medical College Hospital in the evening.

The dead are Imran Sarder, 20; Sarwar Sheikh, 22; Shakil Sheikh, 22; Fazlu Mridha, 26; and Mohammad Shaker, 25. Imran was the driver of the vehicle, while the others were workers of Razzar Jute Mill in Madhukhali.

Contacted, AKM Azmal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Baliakandi Police Station, said police recovered the bodies and sent those to Rajbari General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

A smashed human haulier lies to its side by the railway tracks at Baliakandi in Rajbari. At least five workers of a jute mill were killed and many others injured as a train rammed the vehicle yesterday afternoon. Photo: Star

The injured were receiving treatment at the Faridpur hospital, he added.

In Dinajpur, two schoolgirls, who were riding a motorbike, got killed as a heavily laden tractor hit the bike from behind on Biral-Bochaganj road in Dolimor area around 10:30am yesterday.

The victims are Farzana Aktar, 15, from Dinajpur's Bochaganj, and Nipa Begum, 13, from Panchagarh's Kamalpara village.

Police said Rafiqul Islam, a relative of the two girls, was taking them to Farzana's house in Bochaganj from Biral by his motorbike.

Rafiqul was wounded and admitted to hospital.

The two bodies were sent to Bochaganj Upazila Health Complex for autopsy.

Meanwhile, a policeman was killed and two others were injured in a road accident in Madaripur.

A Golden Line Paribahan bus collided head-on with a motorbike on the Dhaka-Barishal highway in Madaripur's Rajoir area around 10:00am.

Kamrul Islam, 36, assistant sub-inspector of Kalkini Police Station, who was riding the bike along with two others, died on the spot, Ziaul Morshed, officer-in-charge of Rajoir Police Station, told this newspaper.

The two pillion passengers suffered wounds, he added.