Three girls returning home from school were run over by a speeding train in Cumilla on Wednesday.

The three -- Meem (12), and Tashifa and Rima, both aged 11 -- were students of Bijoypur Government Primary School in Cumilla's Sadar Dakkhin upazila.

The unaccompanied minors were supposed to cross the Bijoypur level crossing in the upazila on the way home but they took a shortcut that claimed their lives, police said.

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The accident occurred around 11.45am when the Chattogram-bound Mahanagar Probhati train from Dhaka hit the three while they were crossing the railway track near the level crossing, said Proshanto Pal, additional superintendent of Cumilla Police.

On information, police rushed to the spot and took the bodies into custody.

As the news of the accident spread like wildfire, angry locals blocked the Cumilla-Noakhali railway tracks, disrupting vehicular movement in the upazila too.

Train accidents in Bangladesh

Train accidents are common in Bangladesh, many at unmanned level crossings and some due to the poor condition of tracks.

In 123 railway accidents last year, as many as 147 people were killed.

According to a 2021 report by Road Safety Foundation, 82% of the level crossings in the country are unprotected, which claimed 47 lives in 33 accidents.

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The Dhaka division witnessed the highest number of accidents at 1,344 that claimed 1,545 lives.

At least 113 people, including 26 women and 11 children, were killed in railway accidents between January 1 and June 30 last year, according to a report, jointly prepared by the Green Club of Bangladesh (GCB) and the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways.