DHAKA: At least five people were killed and scores of others injured when a train packed with Eid holidaymakers, many of them sitting atop the bogies, derailed on Saturday near Bangladesh's southeastern city of Chittagong.
Five rear bogies of Provati Express jumped the tracks at Mirshwarai area shortly after leaving the port city for Dhaka.
Bangladesh Railways said five persons have died in the accident but three bodies were still trapped in the wreckage.
The overcrowded train was carrying more than 1,000 passengers, mostly holidaymakers on the eve of Muslim festival of Eid-ul Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramzan. A large number of passengers were sitting on top of the bogies.
At least 30 people have been injured, Bangladesh Railway's General Manager Mohammad Iqbal Mollah said over telephone from the scene.
"Rescue operations are underway while we have launched an investigation into the accident," Mollah said.
The accident site was cordoned off as rescue workers tried to retrieve the dead and the injured from the damaged bogies.
Mollah, however, said the crash did not disrupt the country's major railway link that connects the port city with rest of the country including Dhaka.
"We have directed the trains towards an alternative line while the affected track is also expected to be repaired soon," he said.
Railway officials suspect that high-speed of the 16-bogey train could have triggered the accident.
Like every year on Eid, Bangladesh, which is pre-dominantly Muslim, is witnessing an unusual rush of travellers for which special train and bus services are being run.
Tens of thousands of people were seen jamming buses, ferries and trains to reach their destinations for the three-day festival.
The capital Dhaka, a city of over 10 million people, wore a deserted look as an estimated half of its population left the city taking the advantage of a three-day holiday.
