Police say victims were sitting on the railway tracks beside the highway

Five people were killed after being run over by a train in Tangail’s Kalihati upazila this evening.

The incident happened around 7:45pm at Tangail-Jamuna Bridge East rail line in Jogar Char area, said Mohammad Ruhani, officer-in-charge of the police station on the eastern end of Jamuna Bridge.

The deceased could not be identified at the time of filing this report around 10:00pm.

Rezaul Karim, station master of Ibrahimabad Railway Station at the eastern end of Jamuna Bridge, told The Daily Star that the deceased include women and children.

He said that due to traffic congestion on the highway, they may have stepped out of their vehicle and were sitting on the railway tracks beside the road.

“Railway police arrived at the spot and launched recovery efforts. Details will be disclosed later,” the station master added.

Police believe the victims were passengers of a bus on the highway.

When a Dhaka-bound bus ran out of fuel in Kalihati’s Dhalatengor area, several passengers got off the bus and were sitting on the railway tracks beside the highway,” said Mizanur Rahman, sub-inspector of Tangail Railway Police Outpost.