Six wagons were gutted and five partially burnt in the accident and the railway tracks could not be cleared of the burning wagons until early this morning.

The train carrying 24 tankers of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) was going to Sylhet from Chittagong.

Witnesses said a wagon skidded off the tracks at 7:30pm as the train reached Mollickpur crossing near Kushiara Bridge, barely a km from Fenchuganj Railway Station. Ten other wagons also skidded in a few seconds.

Two women -- Asma and her home help -- of a nearby house suffered burn injuries as the fire spread soon. They were admitted to a Fenchuganj hospital.

Local residents said the burning wagons sent flames high in the sky that could be seen from a km off the scene. Oil from the derailed tankers also spilled over to the Kushiara river, polluting its waters.

Panic gripped the local communities who left their houses mistaking the accident for a bomb blast and local mosque announcements asked people to move to safer places immediately.

Locals said the fire might have originated from the fag end of a cigarette thrown on the track by a passer-by walking down the adjacent track.

Fire fighters from Sylhet started for the scene, but could not reach the spot because of poor road connection.

Engineers from Jalalabad Gas Factory vainly tried to dowse the fire with powder. No damage was reported to local gas pipelines.

A locomotive trailed the rest 13 undamaged tankers to Fenchuganj Railway Station.

Talking to The Daily Star, Ashiq Malik, district sales officer of Padma Oil Company Limited, a concern of the BPC, said the burnt wagons were carrying 300,000 litres of diesel and kerosene.