Seven dead in Bangladesh train collision

Two passenger trains collided at a busy station just outside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Wednesday, killing at least seven people and injuring scores, local officials told AFP.

One train was stopped at the station when the second one ploughed into it from behind, leaving passenger carriages mangled and stacked on top of each other.

Television footage showed workers at the scene trying to rescue people from inside the coaches, as large crowds milled around the scene with some locals trying to drag victims from the wreckage.

Staff at local hospitals confirmed four passengers had died and at least 60 were being treated for injuries.

"The engine car of the moving train rammed into the stationary train, this caused the two back carriages on the stationary train to fly up into the air and crash back down on top of the engine car," Ruhul Amin Molla, head of the fire department in Narshingdi district, told AFP.

"There are still people trapped inside."

Molla said the complex emergency rescue operation was being hampered by the thousands of people who had gathered at the accident site.

Momena Khatun, Narshingdi deputy district chief, told AFP that victims with severe leg and head injuries were being treated at hospitals near the crash scene, 30 kilometres northeast of Dhaka.

"Both trains flew skywards. Firefighters and police are there cutting people out of the wreckage," she said.

"From the information I have now, it appears this was the result of a signal problem," she added. "Most of the injured are very serious and they will need to be sent to Dhaka to get more treatment."

Mohamad Shamin, a doctor at Narshingdi Central Hospital, said that staff there were treating 30 injured people.

"We have sent seven people to Dhaka as their condition is very serious. Many people have lost arms and legs.

"They may survive, but the people who have sustained head wounds, I fear many of them may die, and the traffic is so bad they are not getting to hospital quick enough for us to save them."

Abul Hasan, a nurse at Narshingdi District Hospital told AFP that four people had died of their injuries at the hospital, and at least 27 were injured.

Transport Minister Syed Abul Hosain said that an investigation into the causes of the crash had already been launched.
 

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