Five people, including four members of the same family, were killed when a train crashed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at the Dhalirchhara rail crossing in Rashidnagar Union of Ramu upazila, Cox’s Bazar, on Saturday afternoon.
The incident occurred around 2:30 pm as the auto-rickshaw was crossing the Rashidnagar rail line on its way from Rashidnagar to Bharuakhali in Sadar upazila, leaving all the passengers reportedly dead on the spot.
The Dhaka-bound ‘Cox’s Bazar Express’ struck the vehicle, dragging it for nearly half a kilometer, according to local Union Parishad member Bodi Alam.
The vehicle has been completely destroyed and the victims’ bodies were reportedly scattered along the tracks.
Ramu Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Taibur Rahman confirmed the deaths at the scene. He said the deceased were 35-year-old Morjina Akhter and her child, both residents of Purba Gomatli in Pokkhali Union, Cox’s Bazar Sadar. Auto-rickshaw driver Shahab Uddin also died in the crash. The identities of the other two victims have not yet been confirmed.
Ramu Assistant Railway Station Master Akhter Hossain stated that the ‘Cox’s Bazar Express’ left for its destination following the incident. But another Cox’s Bazar-bound ‘Tourist Express’ from Dhaka was blocked by angry locals at Panirchhara in protest of the fatal accident.
Authorities are investigating the incident.
