An emergency call to 999 came from Shahan Mia’s cellphone on Sunday midnight which prompted members of the police to reach the spot where the fatal train accident had taken place. This, actually, helped the police save the lives of many passengers.

Shahan Mia, a student of Kulaura Degree College, made the phone call hearing the screams of passengers while he was returning home at night.

Six coaches of Dhaka-bound ‘Upaban Express’ from Sylhet veered off the tracks around 11:40pm after a culvert over the Barochhara Canal, 200 yards off Baramchal Railway Station, broke down.

Shahan said, “I heard a big bang and hue and cry of people while returning home from our local bazaar.”

He said, “I started walking towards the spot following the bang and found Baramchal Bridge broken and two rail coaches lying in the canal. Right away, I called 999 and fortunately the call was received immediately. I told the police what I had seen.”

“The death toll could have been much higher had the police not reached the spot in time, Shahan added.

The death toll from the train crash rose to 5 while the number of injured to over 200, police said.

Kulaura Police Station officer-in-charge Yardous Hasan said, “Shahan informed us by calling 999 around 12 am about the rail accident. After receiving the information, we rushed to the spot, recovered the bodies and took some 200 injured to nearby hospitals.”

The rescue operation has been called off already, the OC said.

Members of the Fire Service, Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) and locals helped the police rescue the injured.