Bangladeshi youth waves flag to stop train, saves 300 lives

Dhaka, Aug 20 A youth in Bangladesh's Joypurhat on Friday showed great presence of mind to flag down an approaching train and prevent a major accident after finding the rail line broken, officials said.

The incident was reported from Panchbibi upazila of the district as the Panchagarh Express, an intercity train, was supposed to pass on Friday morning.

Shafiqul Islam, 28, of Koktara village in Panchbibi upazila, said that he was walking along the rail line near his house when he suddenly saw the broken railway line.

Seeing the train coming, he immediately rushed home, found a red towel, and waved it, and the train driver stopped the train a little before the broken part.

Engine driver Shah Alam said: "The train was traveling at a speed of 80 kmph. I decided to stop the train as soon as I saw the young man waving the red towel. I went down there and saw a break in the line of about eight inches. Running a train over a broken line could lead to a fatal accident."

Railway authorities repaired the broken part of the line and the train left the station for Panchagarh two hours later.

Panchbibi station master Abdul Awal said that the incident took place near the station on Friday morning, and the train service was stopped for two hours, till around 10 a.m., until the repair work was done.