The New Nation - Internet Edition

Tangail Correspondent

At least 18 people were killed and 30 others injured when a train rammed into a packed bus at the Rajbari railway crossing under Kalihati upazila in Tangail, about 20 kilometers from the district town, in the early hours of yesterday,

Eye witnesses and officials They said the Dhaka-bound Ekota Express from Dinajpur hit the passenger bus at Balla in Kalihati upazila at about 3:00am, killing 16 people on the spot and injuring 32 others.

The injured were admitted to Tangail General Hospital where two of them died and five others with critical injuries were sent to Dhaka for treatment, a police official said.

The police quoting survivors said all the 50 passengers of the bus were local weavers who were on their way to join a weekly rural haat (weekly marketplace) from Balla to Korotia.

Witnesses said the railway crossing was kept open when the intercity train coming from northwestern Dinajpur to Dhaka rammed into the bus and turned it into a wreckage.

''Senior railway officials rushed to the scene immediately after the accident and an investigation has already been ordered,'' Bangladesh Railway spokesman Shafiqul Islam said.

Islam said the gateman of the railway crossing Habibur Rahman was suspended and seven-member committee was constituted to find the reasons for the accident.

However, the railway officials confirmed the death of 17 people and the number of injured persons at 20.

The train reportedly collided with a crowded bus at an unmanned railway crossing in Tangail district, 80km (50 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka.

Officials said all of the victims were passengers the bus. Three of the injured are reported to be in a critical condition.

There was no major damage to the train, a railway official said.

The dead were identified as Saiful Islam,45, of village Momin Nagar, Farooq Hossain,26, Ahad Hossain, 35, Ahmed Ali, 42, Dudu Miah,35, of Rampur village, Solaiman,35, Serajul Islam,35, Safi,32, Dulal Hossain,38, Faruk Hossain ,33, Monir Hossain,35, Sujat Ali,50, Alal Uddin ,32, of village Mali Para, Golam Hossain ,20, driver of the bus Abdus Samad,45, Al-Amin,20, Korban Ali,25,of village Chatutia and Fazlul Haque,45. All of them hailed from Kalihati upazila of the district.

Deputy Commissioner of the district Akter Ali Sarker, Police Super Abdul Mannan and Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Kalihati Saifullah Hil Azam visited the spot.