Mohanganj train tragedy: How Tejgaon railway man tried to save them all

 It was a foggy morning on 19 December, at the Tejgaon Railway Station.

Parbat Ali, the assistant station master, was waiting for the Dhaka-bound Mohanganj Express, which was soon to arrive at the station from Netrokona.

At the time, Parbat Ali was expecting business as usual.

Then, at 4:55am, the train began to emerge out of the fog.

But something did not look right.

"At first, I saw the train. But it was billowing smoke. Then I heard the screams," Parbat Ali recalled amid a flurry of activity at the station on Thursday afternoon.

As the first few coaches began to pass that day, Parbat's eyes were glued to a point in the middle – three coaches to be exact – which were engulfed in flames.

"I didn't have time to think. I dashed to the control room, gave the danger signal, grabbed the red flag, and began waving it at the train."

Parbat said after that it was all a blur.

"I was constantly thinking about how fast I could handle the situation. I was scared and praying. Three coaches were on fire, and there were people inside. They would die if the fire spread," he said.

Parbat then called the fire service at 5:08am, watching the train pull away and grinding to a halt steadily.

By then everyone at the station was on high alert.

At 5:15am, the fire service arrived on the scene, dousing the flames by 5:50am.

At 6:20am, Parbat declared "TXR Fit" – meaning the train was ready to resume operations.

By 6:25am, he had successfully stabilised the train services.

"I did my duty. But people died," he said, resignation etched across his face.

The tragic incident left four people, a mother and son included, among those who didn't make it out alive.

But without Parbat's quick thinking, the death toll would have been much higher.

As the fog lifts on the accident, stories of grief emerge. But so does the story of dedication to duty; so does the story of a hero.