23 killed in Muz’nagar train mishap
40 INJURED Antiterrorist squad rushes to site of derailment; railway minister, CM announce relief
MUZZAFARNAGAR/MEERUT/LUCKNOW: Twenty-three people were killed and 40 injured as over 10 coaches of the Utkal Express, travelling from Puri to Haridwar, derailed in Muzaffarnagar on Saturday evening.
The impact of the derailment was such that some coaches climbed over one another and one of them rammed into a nearby house.
The director general of police office in Lucknow confirmed the deaths of 23 people and injuries to 40 others in the accident.
ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar has rushed a team of antiterrorist squad, under Dy SP Anoop Singh, to the site to check if the accident was a case of sabotage or not.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu announced an ex gratia of Rs 3.5 lakh for kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured passengers. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has declared Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He has also ordered free treatment of all the injured.
The accident occurred around 6 pm near Khatauli station. Eye witnesses claimed that over 20 bodies had been taken out after cutting iron rods of compartments’ windows.
According to principal secretary, home, Arvind Kumar, the train derailment appears to have occurred due to sudden application of breaks. He told HT that there was some work underway on the track but “no flag was shown” resulting in sudden application of brakes and the mishap.
He said prima facie there was no indication of sabotage.
Rizwan, owner of a studio named Kajal in Muzaffarnagar, said: “I took out 18 bodies from the mangled compartments myself.”
Varanasi-based deputy commandant of NDRF Devendra Kumar said, “A team of 44 NDRF personnel, with rescue equipment, have left for the site from Ghaziabad.” Union minister Sanjeev Baliyan had reached spot a little after the accident.
Railways have issued helpline numbers: 9760534045/5101 94106 09434, 0121-2604977, 94544 55183, 9410609434, 0121-2604977.
The chief minister has directed ministers Suresh Rana and Satish Mahana to rush to the accident site. He has also directed the principal secretary, home Arvind Kumar to get in touch with Muzaffarnagar district magistrate to supervise relief and rescue operations.
Meanwhile, the railway minister tweeted that he has instructed chairman, railway board, and other officials to oversee rescue and relief operations. “I am personally monitoring the situation,” he tweeted.
UP health minister Siddhhartha Nath Singh tweeted that the government has mobilised medical services and instructed chief medical officers of Meerut and Muzaffarnagar to extend all help to the injured.
Rizwan and his fellow photographers, who run their photo studio in Jagat colony where the boogies of Utkal express derailed on Saturday, were preparing for a meeting on World Photography Day when they heard a deafening sound.
Even as they were wondering about the origin of the sound, Rizwan’s friend Sandeep got a call from his colleague about the train derailment. They all rushed to the spot and were aghast at the scene. The bogies were rammed into each other and trapped passengers were screaming for help.
Two bogies of the train had hit the walls of one Pintu Choudhary’s house while a nearby tea stall was destroyed with the owner and four customers all crushed to death under one of the bogies. “They are still trapped under the bogie,” claimed Sandeep who described the scene as a ‘horrible nightmare.’ He further said, “We watch trains pass everyday but what happened today…I still have no words to explain. I am still in a shock”, he said. Rizwan, meanwhile, claimed to have pulled out at least 18 mutilated bodies from the debris with many being beyond recognition.
A survivor of Saturday’s tragedy Prerna, B Tech student on NIT campus of Roorkee, boarded the train at Tatanagar in Jharkhand. Thanking the Almighty for saving her, a shocked Prerna recalled how the train stopped after a loud bang and her four fellow passengers getting trapped under their seats.
“I prayed to the Almighty and was helpless. I watched them die,” she recalls. Prerna somehow came out of the bogie and a social worker Pankaj Choudhary took her to a nearby house where she telephoned her relatives in Delhi. “I thank God that I am still alive,” she said. Similarly sisters Asma and Uzma, who boarded the train along with their aunt Karishma in Agra, miraculously survived the mishap. However, they could not find their aunt. The sisters had to de-board at Saharanpur but destiny had something else in store for them.
Meanwhile, Parmendra, who was returning to his factory in Yamunangar along with wife and young daughter, sustained injuries. “I have informed my employer and they are coming to take me to Yamunanagar,” said Parmendra who boarded the train for Odisha. Locals came out in large numbers to help cops and other rescue workers. Rizwan and his friends arranged for three generators to provide adequate light for rescue work.
We watch trains pass everyday but what happened today…I still have no words to explain. I am still in a shock SANDEEP, one of the passengers