A fatal train trip averted as locals step in

The story could go something like this: a train carrying more than 2,000 people fell into a deep pit near a bridge; rescuers were trying to save as many people as they could; and there were mourners wailing all around.

But that did not happen in Pungli of Tangail. Villagers stepped in to prevent what could be a tragedy.

At 5:45am yesterday, Nilsagar Express was heading towards a bridge across the Pungli River. The driver did not know there was a large pit just on the other side of the bridge. It was created after floodwater washed away earth beneath the rail line.

A several hundred metres ahead of the bridge he saw a crowd waving their hands and a piece of red cloth. So he stopped.

"I saw the danger signal and was able to stop the train at the north end of the rail bridge," said Mohammad Sarwardi, driver of Nilsagar Express.

With more than 2,000 passengers, the train started off from Nilphamari and was headed for Dhaka.

The driver said, "Thanks a lot to the villagers who stopped the train, using their ready wit. If they didn't do it, there could be a fatal accident and a large number of causalities."

Only 45 minutes earlier, around 5:00am, another inter-city train, Sundarban Express, from Khulna crossed the bridge when the approach at the south end of the bridge was all right.

It was about the time of Fazr prayers. A few fishermen first saw the hollow under the rail track, said Jamir Uddin, president of Pungli Bazar Traders' Association.

The fishermen immediately informed the matter to the people who came to pray at the local mosque, he said.

The pit was around 30 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet deep. The wooden sleepers were gone.

One of the witnesses and a medicine shop owner at Pungli Bazar, Jakir Hossain, said, "After getting information, we were discussing the matter standing beside the rail track.

"At that time, we saw a train coming from the north towards the bridge. We immediately took a decision to stop the train. We got on the rail track and showed a danger signal flying a piece of red cloth," he said.

Shamim Ahmed, a teacher of Dhaka University, who was travelling on the train, said, "I got into the train at Pakshi to go to Dhaka. The train, however, stopped suddenly after crossing Bangabandhu Bridge. Then I got off from the train and saw the situation."

Another passenger, Taslim Uddin, 65, of Panchagarh, said he along with 21 other people boarded the train at Chilahati in Nilphamari to go to Dhaka to pick a hajj flight tomorrow.

"Allah saved us...and gave us the opportunity to perform hajj. May Allah bless the people of Pungli," he said. "Now we are hiring cars to go to Dhaka."

The train travelled some 15km after crossing Bangabandhu Bridge and reached Pungli area, which falls in Tangail's Kalihati upazila. The nearest station from the spot is Gharindha, around 6km south of the bridge.

Chief Engineer of Bangladesh Railway (West Zone) Ramjan Ali, who was travelling on the train to go to Dhaka, however, said a railway guard called Nasir was on duty in the area, and he first saw the damage and reported it to the divisional executive engineer of the railway department. "The engineer then informed me," he said.

"With a red flag, Nasir was there with the local people to stop the train," he said. "The train might have fallen into the river if it was not stopped in time."

After the incident, the train was driven backwards to Ibrahimabad station near Bangabandhu Bridge and rail communication was suspended.

While visiting the spot around 2:00pm yesterday, Railways Minister Mujibul Haque told reporters that the rail communication would be restored as soon as possible.

Chief Engineer Ramjan Ali, who is overseeing the repair work, said they were dumping sandbags and shoring up the two sides of the track as temporary measures.

Trains will be able to start operation from Monday morning, but full renovation will take three or four days, he added.