Nine killed after train hits wedding party minibus in Bangladesh

At least nine people were killed when a speeding train hit a minibus carrying a wedding party at a railway level crossing in western Bangladesh on Monday evening, police said.
 Officer Mosharraf Hossain said eight of the passengers, including the newly married bride and groom, died immediately when the Dhaka-bound Padma Express train ploughed into the minibus at the Panchacroshi level crossing in Pabna district.
 The scene is located nearly 130 kilometres west of the capital Dhaka. One passenger died at a local hospital, Hossain added. The train hit the minibus as soon as it entered the unmanned level crossing and dragged it for 200 metres along the track, railway official Golam Mustafa said.
 Local residents blocked the track after the accident in protest, prompting the authorities to suspend railway communications on the route for hours, railway official Golam Mustafa said. The minibus was taking the wedding party back to Sirajganj district from Ullapara in Pabna district after the marriage ceremony, Mustafa added.
 Deaths at level crossings are frequent in Bangladesh as most of the more than 2,500 railroad crossings in the South Asian country are unmanned.