A case has been filed over the deaths of 12 people after a train hit a bus at a railway crossing in Cumilla’s Sadar Dakshin upazila.

Shefali Akter, 58, relative of a victim, filed the case at Laksam Railway Police Station this afternoon confirmed the station’s Officer-in-Charge (OC), Jasim Uddin Khandaker.

He said Md Helal Uddin and Mehedi Hasan, who were on duty at the Paduar Bazar railway crossing, have been named as accused. Several unidentified persons responsible for the crossing have also been included in the case.

Following the incident early Sunday, railway authorities suspended the two for negligence.

In the case statement, Shefali, of Fatehpur village in Laksam upazila, identified herself as the maternal aunt of Sohel Rana, 46, of Raipur village in Chuadanga’s Jibannagar upazila. Sohel, a Malaysia expatriate, was among the 12 people who died. He had come to visit his aunt during the Eid holidays and fell victim to the accident.

The accident occurred around 2:45am on Sunday at the Paduar Bazar railway crossing on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. A Chattogram-bound mail train from Chattogram rammed into a bus traveling from Chuadanga to Lakshmipur.

Among the deceased were six men, three women, and three children. At least 18 others were seriously injured. All the victims were passengers of the bus.

Railway authorities said negligence by the on-duty gatekeepers led to the accident. In addition to suspending the two workers, three investigation committees have been formed.

Although both were suspended as temporary gatekeepers, the case lists one as a temporary gateman and the other as a wayman.

The two are Md Helal Uddin, 41, of Kodalia village in Burichang upazila, a temporary gateman and Mehedi Hasan, 33, of Bahiripara area in the same upazila, a wayman at the crossing.

Attempts to reach them over the phone were unsuccessful.

The OC said the two are currently absconding, and police are trying to arrest them. “The incident is also under investigation,” he added.