Bhairab train crash: A coincidence, a man's rush to save brother

Ahsan Sheikh, a passenger on the Dhaka-bound Egarosindhur Express, survived the accident unhurt at Bhairab Railway Station in Kishoreganj on 23 October, which left at least 17 people dead and over 100 injured.

When a freight train collided with the Egarosindhur Express, the rear three coaches of the passenger train derailed. However, Ahsan was fortunate to be in the fourth compartment from the rear, which remained unscathed. His family was also with him and no one was hurt.

Although their coach was undamaged, the passengers were all in a state of panic. Ahsan and his family promptly disembarked after the accident and stood by to watch the rescue operations of the injured. 

Out of the blue, one of Ahsan's acquaintances, who was travelling on the train and had sustained minor injuries, asked him, "Where is your brother?"

Ahsan was initially baffled by the question and it took him a few seconds to comprehend that his older brother, Abul Kashem, 55, was also on the train, riding in one of the derailed compartments.

The two brothers live in two nighbouring villages in Kishoreganj and both have businesses in Dhaka –- one in Hazaribagh and one in Badda. 

Fearing the worst, Ahsan started to scream, pushing past the crowd and running towards the derailed coaches. He called out his brother's name repeatedly, but there was no answer.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), who had arrived on the scene to conduct rescue, tried to remove Ahsan from the accident site, but they were moved by his heartfelt tears. 

The BGB men told Ahsan to call his brother's cell phone so that he could be located by the sound. Ahsan called, and after about 30 minutes of repeated calls, someone answered.

"The half-hour wait was excruciating. My mind raced with uncertainty. When the man answered the phone and asked who I was, I told him that I was the younger brother of the person whose phone he had picked up and that I was looking for my injured brother. He said that they were taking him to a Bhairab hospital," Ahsan told The Business Standard.

Ahsan continued, "I left my family at the accident site and rushed to the hospital in a rickshaw. I found my brother unconscious on the floor, surrounded by doctors. They told me he had lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion. I frantically called everyone I knew to ask for blood. A man then stepped forward and offered to donate blood to my brother. I had Tk2,000 in my pocket, and I spent Tk1,300 on the blood.

"After the transfusion at the hospital, doctors told me my brother needed better treatment to survive. I quickly rented an ambulance and rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital late at night, where doctors treated him immediately. My brother is now recovering well."

Abul Kashem survived the horrific accident, but he is still under observation, a duty doctor said.

Kashem, who is now receiving treatment in ward 115 of the hospital, described the accident in a feeble voice.

"I was seated by the window, gazing out. Suddenly, I lurched forward and lost consciousness for a moment. When I came to my senses, I tried to get up, but I could not. I saw that the iron seats had crushed my legs. There was blood everywhere. Even one of my hands was broken, and I could not move it," he told TBS.

"I could hear voices, but they were distant. I remember hearing someone say, 'Pick him up, he is going to die!' I also heard someone crying. I thought I might die too. Then I lost consciousness again and everything went black. When I woke up, I was in the hospital," Kashem added.

Kashem's wife and children, Nuruzzaman and Maryam, stood by his hospital bed, listening intently to his harrowing account of the accident.

"We are poor people," said Kashem's wife, when asked how his treatment was going.

"He is the sole breadwinner, running a jute sack business in Dhaka's Badda area. I do not know how long we can continue the treatment on borrowed money. If he loses his earning ability, our family will not survive," she told TBS.

Meanwhile, when asked whether any compensation would be given to the victims of the accident, Director General of Bangladesh Railway Md Kamrul Ahsan said that the minister was out of the country and the issue of compensation would be discussed upon his return.

Case filed

A case has been filed against two train drivers and a guard, among others, over the train crash.

Billal Hossain, younger brother of a victim, filed the case with Bhairab Railway Police Station on Tuesday night, Officer-in-Charge (OC) Alim Hossain Sikder told The Business Standard on Wednesday.

"Freight train driver Jahangir Alam, assistant driver Atiqur Rahman and guard Alamgir Hossain are accused in the case. Besides, those involved in the management of the freight train have also been named," the OC said.