Head-on train collision in Bangladesh kills at least 14

Two trains crashed head-on in eastern Bangladesh early on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 40, officials said. The accident took place when a train heading for the port city of Chittagong collided with a train bound for the capital Dhaka at 3 a.m. (2100 GMT) in Brahmanbaria, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Dhaka.

The impact of the collision left a couple of compartments of the trains mangled, and rescue workers continued searching to reach passengers trapped inside, Hayat Ud Dowlah Khan, Brahmanbaria district administrator told Reuters by phone from the accident site. "So far, 14 bodies have been recovered," he said.

The death toll could rise as search operations are going on, Khan said. "Over 40 people who were injured have been admitted in hospitals," he said, adding that some of them are in critical condition.

It was not immediately clear how the two trains came to be on the same tracks. Railway accidents occur relatively frequently in Bangladesh, many of them at unsupervised crossings and also because of the poor condition of tracks.