Train hits stuck truck

An inter-city train got out of order after hitting a stranded fertiliser-laden truck on Dherua level crossing in Mirzapur upazila early yesterday.

The consequent suspension of train movements on Joydevpur-Bangabandhu Bridge route and hours-long tailback on Dhaka-Tangail highway caused suffering to thousands of passengers.

Dhaka-bound Dhumketu Express train from Rajshahi got out of order at the level crossing as it hit the stranded truck at 3:40am, said Nazmul Huda, stationmaster of Mirzapur railway station.

“A few minutes earlier, the truck had got out of order on the level crossing and its driver and helper got off shortly before arrival of the train. Seeing the train, the on-duty gatemen showed signal to stop it but the train driver might not have seen it due to dense fog,” he said.

“Hit by the train, the fertiliser-laden truck pushed a nearby standing truck before it fell into a roadside ditch. An employee of the standing truck was injured. The accident could be avoided if the news of the truck's getting stuck on the level crossing was conveyed in time," he added.

Another train took the out of order train to Mirzapur station at 6:35am. Later a light engine from Kamalapur in Dhaka came there at 7:40am and took the train to the capital, railway sources said. 

Dhaka-bound Nilsagar Express train from Nilphamari and Dhaka-bound Ekota Express from Dinajpur, which got stuck at Mirzapur and Mohera railway stations due to the accident, resumed their journey at 8:05am and 9:00am respectively, they added.

After the accident, hundreds of vehicles got stuck on Dhaka-Tangail highway on the 50-kilometre stretch from Chandra in Gazipur to Elenga in Tangail, said Shahadat Hossain Selim, traffic inspector in Mirzapur.

Although vehicular movement resumed through the level crossing after removal of the out of order train from the track around 6:30am, the vehicles were seen moving on the highway at a snail's pace till 2:00pm, he added. 

Sohag Miah, driver of a Dhaka-bound potato-laden truck from Bogra, said his vehicle got stuck on the tailback at Elenga at 4:00am and reached Mirzapur bypass after five hours, although it does not need more than one hour in normal situation.