At least 16 people were killed and 50 wounded after two trains crashed into each other in Kasba region of Brahmanbaria district in central Bangladesh on Tuesday, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Chittagong-bound Udayan Express from Sylhet and Dhaka-bound Turna Nishita train from Chittagong collided near Mondobagh railway station around 3.30 am local time (3 am Indian Standard Time), Brahmanbaria Deputy Commissioner Hayat-ud-Dowla Khan said. “The accident occurred because the loco master of Turna Nishita did not obey the signals,” he added.

Mondobagh Railway Station Master Zakir Hossain Chowdhury said the loco master of Turna Nishita did not obey the red signal, and hit the Udayan Express while it was changing tracks.

“Nine of them, including five men and four women, died on the spot,” Kasba region officer Masud Ul Alam said. “Others died at different hospitals after the injured passengers were taken there. The rescue operation is underway, and we have opened a control room to facilitate the operation.”

An officer at the Brahmanbaria Fire Service and Civil Defense control room said that the toll could increase as the rescue operation progresses. Meanwhile, three separate inquiry committees have been formed to investigate the incident, Railways Ministry Secretary Mofazzal Hossain said.

Train services on Dhaka-Chittagong route and Chittagong-Sylhet route were stopped following the accident.

State-owned Bangladesh Railway has said that there have been 1,546 recorded casualties in train accidents from June 2007 to June 2017, the Dhaka Tribune reported. This includes 365 deaths and 1,181 injuries.

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