Train derails killing three passengers
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal is monitoring the rescue operations; in another incident, 14 wagons of a goods train loaded with coal derail in Odisha’s Khurda Road
NEW DELHI: At least three passengers were killed and seven others injured after 13 coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-patna express jumped the track on Friday near Manikpur in Uttar Pradesh. In another incident, 14 wagons of a goods train loaded with coal derailed in Odisha’s Khurda Road.
The Indian Railways announced an ex-gratia for the victims of the Uttar Pradesh accident and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has ordered a probe. The accident occurred at the Manikpur station in Chitrakoot district at 4.18 a.m.
Railway Ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena told IANS: “Three people have died and about seven persons were injured. All the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals for treatment.” The 13 derailed coaches were S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, two extra sleeper coaches and two general coaches.
Railway Minister Goyal was monitoring the rescue operations, Saxena added.
“Immediate rescue and relief operations started and an inquiry ordered into the derailment of Vasco Da Gamapatna Express at Manikpur, UP. My sincere condolences to the families of the deceased,” Goyal said in a tweet.
The railways spokesperson said the Railways has announced an ex-gratia of Rs ive lakh to the kin of the deceased, and Rs one lakh for passengers with grievous injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with simple injuries.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 2 lakh each to the family of those killed, Rs 50,000 for each of the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those with simple injuries, an oficial statement said.
Saxena also said that Chairman Railway Board head Ashwani Lohani after visiting the accident site held a high level meeting with the General Manager and several other oficials of the North Central Railway in Allahabad.
He said that normal trafic was restored on both the lines at Manikpur at 8.35 a.m.
North Central Railway spokesperson Amit Malviya said that a train with the remaining passengers of the Patna-vasco Da Gama Express left for Patna at 7.25 a.m. from Manikpur.
Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar had earlier said that the derailment occurred due to a fracture in the railway tracks.
Two of the dead were identiied as Deepak Patel, 25, and his six-year-old son Golu from Betia in Bihar. A 25-yearold identiied person succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
In another mishap, 14 wagons of the Paradeep-cuttack goods train carrying coal derailed in Odisha’s Khurda Road.
According to East Coast Railway (ECOR) spokesperson J.P. Mishra, the goods train loaded with imported coal derailed between GoraknathRaghunathpur. No one was injured.
“The accident occurred at around 5.55 a.m. about 45 km from Cuttack and about 38 km from Paradeep,” Mishra said.
He said that 12 wagons were in somewhat tilted position. These would be handled by cranes.
“The guard was the irst to inform the nearest station. The Control Room was informed immediately,” he said.
ECOR General Manager Umesh Singh has ordered the Khurda Road Division to set up an Inquiry Committee and submit a detailed report.
Local television footage showed emergency workers clearing the site and upturned coaches near the tracks.
Trafic on the main rail link was disrupted for several hours. The accident is the latest disaster to hit India’s creaking railways.
India’s railway network is the main form of long-distance travel, but is poorly funded, and deadly accidents often occur.
Four people were killed on Thursday when a train hit their vehicle at an unmanned railway crossing near Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh capital.
The latest accident happened on the irst anniversary of a derailment in the same state in which 146 people died.
Twenty-three passengers were killed in August after several coaches of an express train derailed and crashed into a college building in Uttar Pradesh.
A 2012 government report said almost 15,000 people were killed every year on India’s railways and described the loss of life as an annual “massacre”.