“At first glance, it appears the gatekeeper was not there at the time of the incident. Two investigation committees have been formed. The matter will be confirmed after the inquiry.
Cumilla Reporter : Railway officials say the level crossing at Cumilla’s Paduar Bazar, where a train crashed into a bus killing a dozen people, remained intact after the collision, suggesting the barrier had not been lowered and that no gatekeeper was present at the time.The accident took place in the early hours of Sunday amid the Eid festivities at the Paduar Bazar level crossing on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.The Dhaka-bound Dhaka Mail train from Chattogram was passing through the crossing when a Mamun Special bus travelling from Chuadanga to Lakshmipur moved onto the tracks.
At least 12 people were killed at the scene and another eight injured. The mangled bus was dragged nearly a kilometre by the train after the impact.Mostafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, divisional railway manager of Railway East, said initial findings suggested the gatekeeper had not been at the crossing when the crash happened.
“At first glance, it appears the gatekeeper was not there at the time of the incident. Two investigation committees have been formed. The matter will be confirmed after the inquiry.”Another Eastern Railway official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the station master had telephoned the crossing before the train passed through.
“But by the time he managed to reach the gatekeeper by phone, the train had already crossed,” the official said.“The level crossing is intact. That means the barrier was not lowered. Based on the information available so far, it appears the gatekeeper was not there.”Railway officials said the Paduar Bazar crossing was an authorised one.
Food and Agriculture Minister Amin Ur Rashid and State Minister for Railways Habibur Rashid visited the site on Sunday afternoon.Amin said the rail gate appeared to have remained open at the time of the crash.He said separate probe committees had been formed by railway authorities and the deputy commissioner’s office, while two people had already been suspended.Calling the crash deeply unfortunate, the minister said highway rail crossings would be discussed as a priority.
State Minister Habibur said the two gatekeepers whose alleged negligence led to the crash had already been suspended and were facing disciplinary action.He added that punitive measures would also be taken against the station master.The Ministry of Railways will provide Tk 100,000 to each victim’s family, according to him.Habibur also said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was keeping tabs on the situation and had already asked whether existing rail crossings could be replaced with overpasses or underpasses.
He said another proposal under discussion was to automate crossings so that once a train enters a certain range, the barrier would lower automatically.
“There will be guards, and there will also be an automatic system,” he said.The state minister added that the government had already taken decisions in principle to modernise rail crossings in an effort to prevent similar accidents in future.
