Dhaka: At least nine persons were killed and 30 others injured when two passenger trains collided at eastern Bangladesh today, officials and witnesses said.

They said the accident occurred as one of the trains hit another at the Ashuganj junction, some 80 kilometres east of the capital Dhaka.

Railway spokesman Shafique Ahmed Khan said the Noakhali Express, which was going to southeastern Noakhali from Dhaka, hit the northeastern Sylhet-bound inter-city Upapan Express, killing eight people on the spot.

He said the engine of the Noakhali Express and five compartments of the two trains were badly damaged. The injured passengers were rushed to different hospitals.

Witnesses said a ninth person died at a local hospital as he was being treated.
Source : PTI