A speeding train slammed into another moving slowly through a station in eastern Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing as many as 19 people and injuring scores more, according to officials and news reports.
TV footage showed the force of the impact threw the cars of one train on top of the other. Still other cars had veered off the track in the head-on collision.
Railway officials fled the area after the crash as angry crowds descended on the station, according to Benazir Ahmed, a witness at the scene.
Mohammad Golam Mostofa, an emergency official in Dhaka, confirmed that there was a “big accident” in Narsingdi district, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Dhaka, the capital. But he said officials were still trying to determine the number of casualties.
The United News of Bangladesh agency said at least 19 people have died, while ATN Bangla television station reported 10 dead and another 100 injured.
Abu Mohammad Sharif, another emergency official, said by phone that one train was moving slowly through the station in Narsingdi when a speeding train rammed into it.
Local news reports said the accident may have been caused by a signal error.
Train accidents are common in Bangladesh because of poor signalling and rundown tracks.
In September, a speeding train ploughed into two buses at a busy crossing in Dhaka, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens.
