Dhaka’s metro rail services were abruptly halted on Sunday night after authorities detected two unidentified individuals dangerously boarding a moving train's rooftop instead of entering the coaches. The unexpected security breach forced the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) to suspend operations for the remainder of the day.
According to officials, the incident occurred around 8:05 PM at the Bangladesh Secretariat Metro Station, when two people climbed onto the metro train. While initial reports suggested they had positioned themselves between the coaches, photographs circulating online clearly show one man sitting on the roof of a coach as a security officer attempted to reach him using a ladder.
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Md Ahsan Ullah Sharifi, Deputy Project Director (Public Relations) of the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line-6), confirmed that authorities immediately halted services after spotting the intruders. One of the individuals was later located and rescued from the train roof. However, the second person managed to jump off and flee along the rail tracks, prompting an ongoing search operation.
“Operations were suspended from 8:05 pm after two individuals were spotted on the roof of a train. One has been rescued, while the other is still on the run,” Sharifi stated, adding that the incident posed a major safety risk.
At around 9 pm, DMTCL officially announced that metro services would remain suspended for the rest of the day, apologising to commuters for the inconvenience caused.
Sources within the DMTCL indicated that the train was stopped immediately after the intrusion was detected. The motive behind the individuals’ actions remains unclear, and authorities are investigating how they gained access to the tracks and climbed onto the train in the first place. Officials have reassured the public that additional security measures will be reviewed to prevent similar incidents in the future.
