1 killed as locomotive rams train

A youth was killed and some 80 others were injured when the locomotive of a train rammed its carriages while changing ends at Kaunia Junction in Rangpur yesterday.

The dead, Apel Mahmud, 20, is from Thakurgaon. 

Twenty others were badly injured. Of them, three are in critical condition and were referred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital, said Atiqur Rahman, medical officer at Kaunia Upazila Health Complex.

The accident took place around 4:30pm when drivers of the Panchagarh-bound train from Bogura lost control while attaching the locomotive to the other end of the train and hit the carriages hard, said Sarwar Alam, stationmaster at the junction.

Two carriages were badly damaged, he said, adding that the driver and assistant driver of the train fled the scene immediately after the incident. 

A team of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Rangpur rushed to the scene and rescued the dead and the injured.

Ulfat Ara Begum, upazila nirbahi officer of Kaunia, visited the spot following the incident. 

A five-member probe committee was formed to investigate the incident, said Manik Hossain, chief train controller of Western Railway Zone in Lalmonirhat. 

The committee has been asked to submit its report within five days, he added.