Monday, 27 October, 2025
A fatal accident involving a falling part from Dhaka’s Metro Rail has reignited concerns over the safety of Bangladesh’s most expensive infrastructure project — just two years after it was launched to fanfare as a symbol of modern urban progress.
While metro systems worldwide have occasionally seen technical mishaps, experts say the kind of accident that occurred in Dhaka on Sunday — when a heavy bearing pad detached from the elevated structure and killed a pedestrian below — is exceedingly rare.
The incident has shaken public confidence in the billion-dollar project and raised disturbing questions about oversight, design integrity, and long-term maintenance of the capital’s newest transport lifeline.
The victim, Abul Kalam, 35, a Narayanganj resident and travel agency owner, was walking along the footpath when the pad hit him, killing him instantly. Tea stall owner Amin Hossain, who witnessed the event, said the impact shattered his glass showcase and left him with minor injuries.
“I was serving tea when a loud crash erupted,” Amin recalled. “The pad smashed my counter and hit my stomach. If it had landed a few inches higher, I’d be dead too.”
The accident mirrors a similar incident that occurred 13 months earlier, when another bearing pad fell near the same location, suspending metro operations for hours but causing no casualties.
That history has made Sunday’s fatality all the more alarming — and damaging to the credibility of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which oversees the project.
Officials promised compensation and support. “A life cannot be replaced,” Advisor Fouzul said. “We will ensure the family receives assistance and educational support for the children.”
As Dhaka expands its metro network with multiple new lines under construction, Sunday’s tragedy raises a haunting question: Has Bangladesh’s proudest infrastructure symbol turned into a public safety risk?
Experts warn that without immediate accountability and transparency, the country’s ambitious urban transport vision could be undermined by fear and distrust.
“Metro projects are meant to be completely risk-free,” Prof Hoque said. “China runs trains at 300 kilometres per hour and aims for 500. If we can’t ensure safety at 100, where are we heading?”
For now, the billion-dollar metro — once hailed as Dhaka’s ticket to the future — faces an unsettling reckoning.
Is it still a national pride, or is it quietly becoming a death trap hanging above the city’s busiest streets?
Train services were halted immediately after the accident, paralyzing the city’s weekday traffic. Operations between Agargaon and Motijheel were suspended for several hours as Japanese engineers, under police supervision, worked to inspect the damaged section.
Partial service resumed in the evening, but the closure caused immense hardship for thousands of daily commuters who depend on the metro to bypass Dhaka’s chronic traffic chaos.
Nasirul Islam, a private-sector employee, said he moved to Uttara after the metro’s launch to ease his commute. “When the metro stops, life stops,” he said. “Today I was stuck in traffic for hours. It defeats the whole purpose.”
Another commuter, Shahnewaz Happy, a bank executive and working mother, said, “The metro lets me reach my child’s daycare on time. When it shuts down, it’s chaos. We can’t go back to the old days of gridlock.”
The metro’s Line-6, stretching from Uttara to Motijheel, began construction in 2016 under the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project with Japanese funding and technical assistance. Initially budgeted at Tk 219.85 billion, costs ballooned by 50% after multiple revisions and delays.
By the time of its inauguration in December 2022, the project’s total cost had reached Tk 334.72 billion, including Tk 11 billion paid to the Japanese consultancy team for design, supervision, and risk evaluation.
Despite its prestige as a symbol of progress, the project’s safety standards are now under scrutiny after two serious bearing pad failures within just over a year.
Bearing pads are vital components used in bridges, flyovers, and elevated metro lines. Placed between piers and girders, they absorb vibration and allow flexibility, helping structures withstand movement, temperature shifts, and train load.
Engineer Md Moniruzzaman, who has conducted structural surveys on hundreds of bridges nationwide, said such pads “rarely fail unless there’s a serious flaw.”
“When a bridge or viaduct is built, a concrete seat is made to hold the rubber pad firmly in place,” he explained. “Adhesive may be used, depending on the design. But since each pad supports a girder weighing over 100 tonnes, it is not supposed to fall unless there’s improper installation or a gap beneath it.”
He added that such incidents are extremely rare in modern structures. “In my experience, bearing pads have slipped only in decades-old bridges damaged by floods or corrosion,” he said.
The fact that two pads have fallen in 13 months has prompted suspicions of deeper design or construction problems.
Prof Shamsul Hoque, transport engineering specialist at BUET, said: “A bearing pad does not simply ‘come loose’ — it means something was wrong with either the alignment or the connection between pier and girder. A thorough safety audit must be conducted before restarting the system.”
He warned that if such lapses persist, “Dhaka residents, already living with countless risks, now face one more — right above their heads.”
Prof Hoque noted that the technology used in metro structures is not new or experimental. “Bearing systems are a century-old, globally perfected technology,” he said. “For one to fall off a new line built under Japanese supervision is unacceptable.”
He added sharply: “The Japanese consultants were paid Tk 11 billion to evaluate these risks. They appear to have failed in their responsibility. This death demands accountability.”
Some engineers suggest that Dhaka’s metro may have been hurriedly handed over before all safety measures were completed. Others point to possible flaws in the viaduct’s curved sections, where vibration and uneven pressure could create tiny gaps between the pier and girder — weakening the pad’s grip over time.
“Don’t engineers know how to design curves?” Prof Hoque asked. “If design compromises were knowingly made, contractors and consultants must be held accountable.”
Officials claim that recommendations from last year’s probe into the first pad failure had been implemented. “All piers were inspected by experts,” said DMTCL Managing Director Faruque Ahmed.
However, when pressed by journalists at the scene, Road and Transport Advisor Fouzul Kabir Khan questioned the claim.
“Then how did this happen again?” he asked. “If inspections were done, why did another pad fall in the same area?”
Faruque admitted that the previous incident had occurred within the defect liability period, during which the Japanese contractors were allowed to “correct” the fault. “They assured us it was fixed,” he said.
Advisor Fouzul added that the new committee would re-examine both the previous and current incidents. “The same contractor worked under the same conditions,” he said. “The pattern demands deeper scrutiny.”
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A fatal accident involving a falling part from Dhaka’s Metro Rail has reignited concerns over the safety of Bangladesh’s most expensive infrastructure project — just two years after it was launched to fanfare as a symbol of modern urban progress.
While metro systems worldwide have occasionally seen technical mishaps, experts say the kind of accident that occurred in Dhaka on Sunday — when a heavy bearing pad detached from the elevated structure and killed a pedestrian below — is exceedingly rare.
The incident has shaken public confidence in the billion-dollar project and raised disturbing questions about oversight, design integrity, and long-term maintenance of the capital’s newest transport lifeline.
The victim, Abul Kalam, 35, a Narayanganj resident and travel agency owner, was walking along the footpath when the pad hit him, killing him instantly. Tea stall owner Amin Hossain, who witnessed the event, said the impact shattered his glass showcase and left him with minor injuries.
“I was serving tea when a loud crash erupted,” Amin recalled. “The pad smashed my counter and hit my stomach. If it had landed a few inches higher, I’d be dead too.”
The accident mirrors a similar incident that occurred 13 months earlier, when another bearing pad fell near the same location, suspending metro operations for hours but causing no casualties.
That history has made Sunday’s fatality all the more alarming — and damaging to the credibility of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which oversees the project.
Officials promised compensation and support. “A life cannot be replaced,” Advisor Fouzul said. “We will ensure the family receives assistance and educational support for the children.”
As Dhaka expands its metro network with multiple new lines under construction, Sunday’s tragedy raises a haunting question: Has Bangladesh’s proudest infrastructure symbol turned into a public safety risk?
Experts warn that without immediate accountability and transparency, the country’s ambitious urban transport vision could be undermined by fear and distrust.
“Metro projects are meant to be completely risk-free,” Prof Hoque said. “China runs trains at 300 kilometres per hour and aims for 500. If we can’t ensure safety at 100, where are we heading?”
For now, the billion-dollar metro — once hailed as Dhaka’s ticket to the future — faces an unsettling reckoning.
Is it still a national pride, or is it quietly becoming a death trap hanging above the city’s busiest streets?
Train services were halted immediately after the accident, paralyzing the city’s weekday traffic. Operations between Agargaon and Motijheel were suspended for several hours as Japanese engineers, under police supervision, worked to inspect the damaged section.
Partial service resumed in the evening, but the closure caused immense hardship for thousands of daily commuters who depend on the metro to bypass Dhaka’s chronic traffic chaos.
Nasirul Islam, a private-sector employee, said he moved to Uttara after the metro’s launch to ease his commute. “When the metro stops, life stops,” he said. “Today I was stuck in traffic for hours. It defeats the whole purpose.”
Another commuter, Shahnewaz Happy, a bank executive and working mother, said, “The metro lets me reach my child’s daycare on time. When it shuts down, it’s chaos. We can’t go back to the old days of gridlock.”
The metro’s Line-6, stretching from Uttara to Motijheel, began construction in 2016 under the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project with Japanese funding and technical assistance. Initially budgeted at Tk 219.85 billion, costs ballooned by 50% after multiple revisions and delays.
By the time of its inauguration in December 2022, the project’s total cost had reached Tk 334.72 billion, including Tk 11 billion paid to the Japanese consultancy team for design, supervision, and risk evaluation.
Despite its prestige as a symbol of progress, the project’s safety standards are now under scrutiny after two serious bearing pad failures within just over a year.
Bearing pads are vital components used in bridges, flyovers, and elevated metro lines. Placed between piers and girders, they absorb vibration and allow flexibility, helping structures withstand movement, temperature shifts, and train load.
Engineer Md Moniruzzaman, who has conducted structural surveys on hundreds of bridges nationwide, said such pads “rarely fail unless there’s a serious flaw.”
“When a bridge or viaduct is built, a concrete seat is made to hold the rubber pad firmly in place,” he explained. “Adhesive may be used, depending on the design. But since each pad supports a girder weighing over 100 tonnes, it is not supposed to fall unless there’s improper installation or a gap beneath it.”
He added that such incidents are extremely rare in modern structures. “In my experience, bearing pads have slipped only in decades-old bridges damaged by floods or corrosion,” he said.
The fact that two pads have fallen in 13 months has prompted suspicions of deeper design or construction problems.
Prof Shamsul Hoque, transport engineering specialist at BUET, said: “A bearing pad does not simply ‘come loose’ — it means something was wrong with either the alignment or the connection between pier and girder. A thorough safety audit must be conducted before restarting the system.”
He warned that if such lapses persist, “Dhaka residents, already living with countless risks, now face one more — right above their heads.”
Prof Hoque noted that the technology used in metro structures is not new or experimental. “Bearing systems are a century-old, globally perfected technology,” he said. “For one to fall off a new line built under Japanese supervision is unacceptable.”
He added sharply: “The Japanese consultants were paid Tk 11 billion to evaluate these risks. They appear to have failed in their responsibility. This death demands accountability.”
Some engineers suggest that Dhaka’s metro may have been hurriedly handed over before all safety measures were completed. Others point to possible flaws in the viaduct’s curved sections, where vibration and uneven pressure could create tiny gaps between the pier and girder — weakening the pad’s grip over time.
“Don’t engineers know how to design curves?” Prof Hoque asked. “If design compromises were knowingly made, contractors and consultants must be held accountable.”
Officials claim that recommendations from last year’s probe into the first pad failure had been implemented. “All piers were inspected by experts,” said DMTCL Managing Director Faruque Ahmed.
However, when pressed by journalists at the scene, Road and Transport Advisor Fouzul Kabir Khan questioned the claim.
“Then how did this happen again?” he asked. “If inspections were done, why did another pad fall in the same area?”
Faruque admitted that the previous incident had occurred within the defect liability period, during which the Japanese contractors were allowed to “correct” the fault. “They assured us it was fixed,” he said.
Advisor Fouzul added that the new committee would re-examine both the previous and current incidents. “The same contractor worked under the same conditions,” he said. “The pattern demands deeper scrutiny.”
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