Banalata express with 1,200 passengers narrowly averts a fatal disaster

Chapainawabganj bound Banalata express train with 1,200 passengers narrowly averted a fatal disaster in Gazipur Dhirasram station next to shaheeed minar area on Sunday after a red flag was displayed on the tracks.

The train was moving towards the Shaheed Minar area in Dhirasram when it was stopped just 40 metres off from a dangerously bent rail track, says Witnesses. The lives of 1,200 passengers were narrowly saved, they added.

“The train driver could stop at around 2.30pm after the sighting of the red flag. We had no prior warning about the dangerous bend,” said director of Banalata Express Mokhlesur Rahman.

Locals say half an hour before the Banalata Express train was stopped, another train had crossed the damaged track.

Local station officers discovered that a 20-metre section of the dual-gauge line had bent. The sleepers are also loose. Sensing danger they put up a red flag.

Seeing the red flag near Dhirasram station, the locomotive master activated the emergency brakes, stopping the train just 40 metres away from the damaged track.

Railway authorities have launched a probe about the incident.

Station Master Hanif Ali said the train was halted at Dhirasram due to the damaged track. He added that the line would remain closed until repairs are completed.

He said the dual gauge line between Dhaka and Joydebpur remains blocked. However, train services on the other track is continuing as normal.