Four dead, many hurt after train from India set on fire in Bangladesh

At least four people including two children were killed and many injured in Dhaka on Friday when suspected arsonists set on fire a passenger train coming from Benapole a port city bordering India officials said a day ahead of Bangladeshs general elections that have been boycotted by the main opposition BNPThe incident happened around 9 pm when four carriages of the Benapole Express that runs from Benapole a town bordering the Indian state of West Bengal were set on fire as it nearly reached its destination of the capitals Kamalapur Railway StationSo far we have found four bodies searches are still underway Shahjahan Shikdar the spokesman of Fire Service and Civil Defence told newsmen at the sceneRailway officials said that most of the trains nearly 292 passengers were returning home from India and the train was set on fire at 9 PM as it reached the Gopibagh area near the stationFire service chief Brigadier General Mohammad Main Uddin meanwhile said two of the dead were minor childrenWhen we tried to bring out a middleaged man through a window of the train but he asked me to leave him and rather save his wife and children from inside a local youth was seen telling the private Jamuna TVHe said soon fire engulfed the mans and he died shortly thereafterA report by the Somoy TV said that some Indian nationals were also travelling in the trainWhile the railway officials could not immediately confirm how many people were wounded private TV channels said that people in the neighbourhood first reached the scene and sent several firewounded people to Dhaka Medical College Hospitals burn unit and some other facilitiesBangladesh goes to polls on Sunday More than 100 foreign observers including three from India have reached Dhaka to monitor the general electionLed by former prime minister Khalida Zia the Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP is boycotting the general election as it is demanding an interim nonparty neutral government to hold the electionThe demand was rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is heading the ruling Awami LeagueForeign Ministry officials said a threemember delegation from the Election Commission of India reached Dhaka on Friday while 122 others from different countries were set to be here ahead of the January 7 polls which the United Nations said would watch closelyBangladesh witnessed a couple of trainrelated incidents in recent monthsUnidentified saboteurs On December 19 set a train ablaze killing four people among them a mother and child amid an opposition called countrywide strike on that dayOne passenger was killed and dozens wounded as saboteurs uprooted railway tracks when seven carriages derailed in Gazipur on the outskirts of the capital in early DecemberOn January 2 a train carrying some 300 passengers narrowly averted a major crash at the last minute as suspected saboteurs removed 28 dog spikes or hooks from the tracks on a railway bridge in northern BangladeshAwami League accused BNP of carrying out the sabotages which the party deniedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever