3 killed, 10 hurt as train hits pickup van in Faridpur

Three jute mill workers, including two brothers, were killed and 10 others injured when a train hit a pickup van carrying workers in Faridpur’s Boalmari upazila yesterday.

The accident occurred around 3:00pm at an unguarded level crossing in the Sotashi area of Boalmari municipality on the Kalukhali–Bhatiapara rail line.

The deceased are brothers Md Jabbar Molla and Md Musa Molla of Bilkairail village in Moyna union, and Jahanara Begum, wife of Abul Kalam of the same village. All three were workers at Janata Jute Mill.

The injured were admitted to local hospitals.

According to railway police and local sources, a pickup van carrying around 15 workers was heading towards the Boalmari upazila headquarters after finishing work at Janata Jute Mill in the Dobra area of Satair union. 

As the vehicle crossed the unguarded Sotashi level crossing, a local passenger train travelling from Kalukhali to Bhatiapara collided with it, killing three workers on the spot.

Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Rajbari Railway Police Station, said he had been informed that a local train hit a pickup van at the unguarded Sotashi crossing while travelling from Kalukhali to Bhatiapara. 

He said legal proceedings were under way.

Boalmari UNO SM Rakibul Hasan and Boalmari Police Station Officer-in-Charge of Md Anwar Hossain also visited the scene, he said.