Train derailment in Bangladesh leaves 1 dead

Dhaka, Dec 13 (IANS) One person was killed after seven compartments of a train derailed on an overpass in Gazipur near the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Wednesday.

The crash which occurred around 4 a.m. on Wednesday left roughly eight people injured, Hanif Ali, chief of local Joydebpur Railway Station, told mediapersons.

"One person was killed on the spot when seven bogies of the train including the engine, went off the tracks," he added.

The train derailment snapped the railway communications from the capital Dhaka to other parts of the country for hours, Xinhua news agency reported.

The train has derailed after a section of the railway line in Gazipur was allegedly severed by saboteurs due to the ongoing opposition movement.

The opposition movement has reportedly led to vandalism of vehicles and arson attacks, with deadly clashes between police and workers in Dhaka and elsewhere in the South Asian country almost every day since late October.

The country's main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have called countrywide blockade of roads, rail lines, and waterways for 36 hours from Tuesday morning after the Election Commission's announcement of the 12th parliamentary election schedule in the country.

It is the 11th round of blockade called by the BNP-led opposition parties since late October.