Bangladesh Railway on Wednesday awarded the two children — Shihabur Rahman Shihab and Liton Ali — who averted an imminent train accident near Arani Railway Station in Rajshahi on Monday.

Railway West Zone organised a function at the divisional office at Pakshi where the children were given flowers, crests and cash money.

Ashim Kumar Talukder, divisional railway manager, said they see the bravery of the two children in a positive way. ‘Children used to throw stones at trains at a time. But now they’re coming forward to save passengers’ lives. Others will also get inspired to protect railway resources seeing them,’ he said, reports the UNB.

On Thursday, they will be accorded another reception at Rajshahi Railway Office.

Using their presence of mind, the two children averted an imminent train accident near Arani Railway Station in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi on Monday morning.

While returning home from a field along the rail tracks, Shihab and Liton noticed broken tracks.

The children waived a red muffler when they saw a freight train was approaching.

Loco pilots who noticed the signal stopped the train around 20 metres away from the fragmented tracks.

Shihab is a Class-I student and Liton a Class-II student of Jhina Govt Primary school. As they are very poor, they have to work at field alongside their study, said locals.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post after the incident, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam announced to take the responsibility of the two children’s education.