An assistant engineer of the engineering department of the railway has been temporarily suspended in connection with the derailment of the Karnaphuli commuter express train on the Dhaka-Chittagong railway at Laksam in Comilla. This action has been taken against him on the allegation of not informing the railway control room about the repair work of the railway line at the accident site.
The railway authorities have also formed a four-member investigation committee to investigate the cause of the accident.
The name of the sacked sub-assistant engineer is Sarwar Alam. He was in charge of the Feni region under the engineering department of the eastern region of Bangladesh Railway. Under him, the railway line repair work was going on in the outer area of Naoti station near Azgra market in Laksam upazila.
Chittagong Divisional Railway Manager Mostafizur Rahman Bhunya confirmed this information to Prothom Alo at around 11:15 on Wednesday night.
Earlier on Wednesday around 12:30 noon five coaches of the Karnaphuli Commuter Express train derailed along with three engine wheels. At least seven passengers were injured. None of them were seriously injured. Injured persons receive first aid locally.
Mostafizur Rahman Bhunya said, usually before starting the railway line repair work, the concerned engineer or assistant engineer informs the control room of the railway. But at the time of the accident, the railway line repair work was going on at the spot but that information was not given to the control room. Sarwar Alam has been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty. Final action will be taken in this regard after receiving the report of the inquiry committee.
Talking to the people related to the Railways, it is said that although the railway line repair work is going on in the outer area of Naoti station, the matter has not been informed to the Nangalkot and Laksam railway station authorities. Even the train driver or locomaster was not aware of it. As a result, the question arose as to how the train was allowed to ply on the railway under repair.
Stationmaster of Laksam Railway Junction Station Omar Farooq Bhuiyan told Prothom Alo that no one from the engineering department informed them about the repair of the railway line. If the engineering department works on the railway line, at least two stations before and after it should be informed. But they did not get any information about such work. He expressed hope that the inquiry committee will look into the matter.
The locomaster of the train Moazzem Hossain also claimed that he was not informed about the ongoing repair work on the railway line. At 12:20 PM on Wednesday, after receiving the 'line clear' signal from Nangalkot station, he started his journey towards Laksam station. He was not alerted from Nangalkot or Laksam stations even though the railway line repair work was going on.
Since the accident, the locomaster has been claiming that if he had known earlier about the work on the railway line, he could have taken action accordingly.
After the accident, several attempts were made to contact Sarwar Alam, assistant engineer in charge of Feni region under eastern division of railway engineering department, to get his statement. He refused to comment on the matter even though he received calls twice from noon to 8 pm on Wednesday.
Earlier, Jaydev Sheel, assistant executive engineer of the Feni region of the railway engineering department, told reporters that both the traffic and engineering departments may be responsible for the accident. The cases of non-stopping of trains despite red flag and non-sending of necessary instructions or information even though the railway line was working since the previous day are being investigated.
After the accident, the rescue train from Chittagong was sent to the spot. After the arrival of the rescue train on Wednesday evening, the work of removing the derailed carriage and repairing the damaged railway line began. Due to the accident, the movement of trains on the upline of the Dhaka-Chittagong railway was stopped. Two-way train movement is maintained through the downline.
Divisional Railway Manager Mostafizur Rahman Bhunya formed a four-member investigation committee headed by Chittagong Divisional Transport Officer Farhan Mahmud to investigate the cause of the accident. The committee has been directed to submit its report within three working days.
Farhan Mahmud told Prothom Alo around 6:30 pm on Wednesday that they reached the spot with the rescue train and started the rescue work. Attempts are being made to resume train movement through the upline after the work is completed. At the same time, an investigation has been started to find the cause of the accident.
