On the night of 23 June 2019, at around 11 PM, an Upaban Express train from Sylhet was on its way to Dhaka.^[1] Whilst passing through a culvert, a calamity took place leading to 5 deaths and hundreds of injuries.^[2][3][4][5] 1 km of rail line was damaged.^[6]

Description

On the day of the accident, the Upaban Express train boarded too many passengers.^[7][8] The construction work of a bridge over the Titas River on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway increased the number of passengers wanting to travel by rail.^[9]

Whilst passing Kulaura rail station, the train driver suddenly increased the speed.^[10][11] At around 11:30 PM, before passing above the Barachhara canal in Baramchal, 10 carriages detached from the 7 carriages in front. One of the detached carriages fell into the canal.^[12] Two of the remaining detached carriages overturned and fell on the adjacent land and the other six carriages derailed and fell on the side of the railway line.^[13]

After the accident, the local people and police came to the rescue.^[14] They were then joined by the Border Guards Bangladesh.^[15] The Ministry of Railways formed two separate inquiry committees on 24 June to find out the cause of the Kulaura train accident.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}