3 die as train hits pickup van on Gazipur railway crossing

Three people died as a train hit a pickup van on Nalchhata rail crossing in Gazipur's Kaliganj upazila this morning.

The deceased were identified as Zakir (22), the driver of the pickup van, his assistant Mridul (15), and Mohsin (50), a trader of palmyra fruit, said Iqbal Hosen, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Narsingdi Railway Police Camp.

The accident took place around 10am when the Dhaka-bound Egarosindhu Prabhati Express train hit the Narayanganj-bound pickup van loaded with palmyra when it was crossing the rail line, reports our local correspondent.

The pick-up van fell into a ditch beside the railway. The trio died on the spot, the SI added, quoting witnesses.

The incident occurred eight months after the death of a joint secretary's husband on the same unprotected railway crossing on the Tongi-Ghorashal route.