May 15, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

DHAKA: At least eight people were killed and dozens injured when two trains carrying hundreds of passengers collided at a station east of the Bangladesh capital early on Wednesday, police and witnesses said.

The collision took place at Ashuganj station in Brahmanbaria district, more than 100 kms east of Dhaka, when the Sylhet-bound Upaban Express struck a Noakhali-bound train, railway officials said.

“So far we have recovered eight bodies and nearly 100 are injured,” said Kamruzzaman, of the Ashuganj Police Station.

Police, fire and civil defence officers, as well as local volunteers, helped rescue operations.

The accident occurred just two days after a ferry capsized in the Ghorautura river in nearby Kishoreganj district, killing at least 44 people.

Police said the search for more ferry victims had been officially abandoned on Tuesday night, but local volunteers and grieving relatives of passengers were scouring the river for more bodies.

At least 25 people are missing, while a similar number managed to swim to safety after the ferry went down during a storm on Monday night.

Four railway officials have been suspended following Wednesday’s train crash and an investigation is under way, a senior official at the communication ministry said. Services resumed on the busy track after the mangled coaches were removed.—Reuters