The freight train heading to Rajshahi from Khulna stopped around 9am Monday after the children waved a red piece of cloth on the Jhina level crossing in Bagha Upazila.

Sihabur Rahman, 6, and Titon Ali, 7, -- both from Jhina village -- raised the warning after they discovered a broken fishplate on the railway tracks.

“They stood opposite to each other holding up a red muffler,” Titon’s father Shahidul Islam said.

The train stopped near Arani Railway Station in the Upazila.

“I saw the children trying to give a signal but did not bother much. But finally I had to stop as they remained unmoved,” said KM Mohiuddin, driver of the train.

The incident was immediately reported to the railway authorities, said station master Nayan Ahmed.

The authorities halted all trains travelling in the western zone. The situation returned to normal within half an hour after the fishplate was restored.