One train was stopped at the station when the second plowed into it from behind, leaving mangled carriages stacked on top of each other.

“The engines and front cars of the trains turned into heaps of twisted metal,” said Abdus Samad, a charity worker living near the station. “I saw people screaming and shouting for help.” Railway officials fled the area after the crash as angry crowds descended on the station, according to Benazir Ahmed, another witness.

Rescue workers and local people pulled survivors from the wreckage.  “We are still trying to clear the tracks but heavy rain is hampering the effort,” district police chief Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan said, confirming three people had died in hospital overnight. More than 40 people remain in hospital, many with severe injuries.

The accident occurred in Narshingdi, 30 km northeast of Dhaka, on Wednesday afternoon.

An investigation into the cause of the crash has already been launched.

Amrito Baroi, Narshingdi chief administrator, said the brakes on the approaching train may have failed.