12 die, 10 injured in Joypurhat bus-train collision

At least 12 people were killed and 10 others sustained injuries in a collision between a train and a bus at Joypourhat Sadar Upazila early this morning.

All the victims were passengers of the bus and further details including their identities could not be known immediately, AKM Alamgir Zahan, officer-in-charge of Joypurhat Police Station, told the Business Insider.

The collision took place between Rajshahi-bound Uttara Express train and a Panchbibi-bound bus of Badhan Paribahan at Puranapoil level crossing of the upazila around 6:47am, the OC said from the spot.

On information, police rushed to the spot and with the help of local people recovered bodies of the victims.

Police also rescued five people who sustained injuries in the accident and sent them to Joypurhat Sadar Hospital, the OC said.

The rest injured are now undergoing treatment at different clinics and hospitals in the area, he added.

The gate of the level crossing was open and the concerned gateman was sleeping, the police officer told the reporter over phone adding that railway communication in the country’s northern districts has been cut off following the accident.

Earlier, a total of 16 people were killed and 100 others injured in a deadly collision took place between Dhaka-bound Turna Nishita Express and Chattogram-bound Udayan Express on Dhaka-Chattogram route in Mandbagh Railway Station under Kasba upazila of Brahmanbaria in November last year.

The causalities in train accident have become a common phenomenon as the country witnessed more deadly accidents in the past. 

At least 113 people, including 26 women and 11 children, were killed in railway accidents between January 1 and June 30 this year, Green Club of Bangladesh (GCB) and National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR), has said in a joint report.