12 dead, 20 hurt as train rams bus, drags it 1km in Bangladesh's Comilla
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Dhaka: A Chittagong-bound mail train smashed into a Mamun Special bus at Padua Bazar level crossing in Comilla around 3 a.m., killing 12 and injuring 20 in one of Bangladesh's worst rail-road crashes.
The brutal collision on the Dhaka-Chittagong route wedged the bus to the engine, dragging it nearly a kilometer before halting. The mangled vehicle trapped passengers inside.
Victims included seven men, three women, and two children. Three died at the scene; nine succumbed at Comilla Medical College Hospital.
Army, police, fire service, and Red Crescent teams joined locals to free survivors and clear wreckage. Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam of Comilla Sadar South Police Station confirmed tolls.
The crash paralyzed the vital rail corridor for three hours, delaying passengers and freight.
It spotlights chronic safety gaps at level crossings, with probes underway into why the bus crossed as the train approached.
(Inputs from IANS)
