Eight killed, 16 injured in Bangladesh train crash

At least eight people were killed when two trains collided in eastern Bangladesh today, a railway official said.

Bangladesh Railway spokesman Shafiqul Alam Khan said 16 other people were injured in the morning accident in Brahmmanbaria district, 50 miles (80km) east of the capital, Dhaka.

Mr Khan said the Upaban Express train rammed into the rear of another train, the Noakhali Express, which was waiting at a station for its regular stop. The casualties were all passengers on the Noakhali Express.

A combined six coaches from both trains were badly damaged by the collision, he said.

Train services in the area were suspended for hours but later resumed, he added.

Mr Khan said both trains, one heading for the north-eastern city of Sylhet and the other for the eastern town of Noakhali, left Dhaka’s Kamlapur station late yesterday.

Bangladesh Railway director-general Belayet Hossain said a four-member committee was investigating the accident.

Train accidents are common in Bangladesh mainly because of poorly maintained tracks and a lax signalling system.