Five killed after train derails over bridge in Bangladesh

A passenger train carrying at least 2,000 people derailed as it was crossing a bridge in Bangladesh on Monday killing five people and injuring more than 100, officials said.

The train left the rails on its way to the capital, Dhaka, from the eastern city of Sylhet, police superintendent Mohammad Shahjalal said.

Television pictures showed two coaches dangling over a muddy canal while three other coaches had toppled sideways next to the track. Villagers crowded around the site, which was flanked by banana trees and fields.

Rescuers used cranes to pull up the carriages and the toll was not likely to rise, said railway ministry secretary Mofazzel Hossain.

"We checked inside of the derailed coaches and did not find any more bodies," Hossain told Reuters.

Railway accidents occur relatively frequently in Bangladesh, many of them at unsupervised crossings and also because of the poor condition of tracks.

Hossain said the line should be open again by Monday evening. The government has ordered an investigation.

Reuters