DINAJPUR — A day laborer in Dinajpur’s Phulbari used a banana flower as an improvised red flag to stop a passenger train on a broken track, averting a major accident, officials said.
Enamul Haque, 65, spotted a break in the rail and signaled an oncoming train by tying the red petals of a banana flower to a stick, after he could not find any red cloth nearby. The Panchagarh-bound intercity train and its hundreds of passengers were saved.
The incident happened around 6:30 a.m. Monday in the East Chandipur area between the Phulbari and Birampur stations. Enamul, son of the late Fazlul Haque Sonar of the village, is a day laborer.
According to local sources, Enamul was walking along the tracks on his way to work on the third day of Eid when he noticed that about a foot of rail had broken away. Fearing a major derailment, and unable to find a red cloth, he tore a banana flower from a nearby garden, tied its red petals to a stick and stood on the line as a signal.
The intercity Panchagarh Express, which had left Dhaka and was bound for Panchagarh, was passing the area at that moment. The driver saw the red signal from a distance and brought the train to a stop at a safe distance.
A serious accident was avoided. Neighbor Shahinur responded to Enamul’s call and alerted the Parbatipur railway office. An engineering team and workers reached the scene and arranged to move the train past the break within about half an hour. The rail was later repaired and traffic resumed.
Phulbari station master Shawkat Ali confirmed the account and said an engineering team was dispatched as soon as word of the broken rail reached the station. He said Enamul’s alertness had averted a major train accident. Train traffic was suspended for about half an hour and has since returned to normal.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report