Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 12: At least four passengers have been killed and more than 50 were injured when the six coaches of Assam-bound North East Superfast Express derailed near Raghunathpur station in Buxar district in Bihar on Wednesday night, officials said on Thursday.
The 23-coach train (No. 12506) left the Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi at 7.40 a.m. on October 11 and was en route to Kamkhya, near Guwahati, in Assam. The incident occurred at 9.53 p.m. near the Raghunathpur railway station.
The Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said the teams of the national and state disaster response forces have reached the incident site. He also said the injured people would be taken to AIIMS, Patna.
The deceased persons have been identified as Usha Bhandari (33), her daughter Aakriti Bhandari (8), Abu Zaid (68) and Narendra (70). Usha Bhandari and Aakriti Bhandari are residents of Assam’s Tinsukia whereas Abu Zaid is the resident of Kishanganj district of Bihar. Whereabouts of Narendra is not yet known.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said he has spoken to the Disaster Management Department, Health Department, and the district officials of Buxar and Bhojpur to speed up the relief and rescue work. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s office also said they were “closely monitoring the unfortunate derailment” of the train in Raghunathpur.
A quick response team from the Danapur division of the East Central Railway (ECR) has rushed to the spot. The Buxar District Magistrate Anshul Agarwal confirmed the casualties. The East Central Railway (ECR) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Birendra Kumar said Suvomoy Mitra, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS)/Eastern Circle was investigating the Buxar derailment case.
A special train departed from Buxar for Guwahati carrying 1,006 affected passengers of the derailed train. Ten patients who sustained injuries in the accident were admitted to Patna’s AIIMS hospital in the night while two more were admitted to the hospital on Thursday morning. Hospital spokesman said all the patients were given immediate treatment and all of them are currently out of danger.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said he has given instructions to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna that quick and best treatment be given to the injured in the train accident in Buxar.
Northeast Frontier Railway CPRO Sabyasachi De said “Rescue mission was completed at around 2 am today morning. There are no passengers on the site, everybody has been rescued. They started their destination at around 5 am this morning from Danapur and the train is expected to reach Kamakhya Railway Station at around 11 pm tonight. At the site, the line is being cleared. Around 1000 passengers have started their journey from Danapur and out of which 50-60 percent are from Assam,” Sabyasachi De said.
Fault in tracks was the possible cause of derailment of the Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express, sources said citing a preliminary investigation report. The report, signed by six railway officials including the driver of the ill-fated train, stated, “It seems that derailment occurred due to fault in tracks.” It estimated the cost of damage due to the accident at more than ₹52 crore. The loco pilot was partially injured and his assistant suffered serious injuries.
The report also contained a statement by the loco pilot who said the train passed Raghunathpur station, near which the accident occurred, at a speed of 128 km per hour, but soon after it crossed the station section it suffered a severe jolt at the rear end with excessive vibration.
As a result of the excessive vibration and the severe jolt, the brake pipe pressure dropped suddenly and the train derailed at 9:52 pm, the preliminary report quoted the loco pilot as saying. It also quoted a gateman and a pointsman at the Raghunathpur station as saying that they saw sparks coming from near the wheels of the train.
The report stated a breath analyser test of the loco pilot and his assistant was negative.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled those who lost their lives in the train derailment incident. “Pained by the loss of lives due to the derailment of a few coaches of the North East Express. Condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for a quick recovery of the injured. Authorities are providing all possible assistance to all those affected,” the Prime Minister’s office quoted Narendra Modi as saying.
Minister of State for home Nityanand Rai said as soon as the Home Ministry received the news of the train derailment at Bihar’s Buxar, three teams of National Disaster Response Force were rushed to the spot. “Three teams of NDRF were rushed to at the spot last night once we received information of the incident. The NDRF teams launched the relief and rescue operation along with the local administration,” Rai said.
Tarun Prakash, General Manager of East Central Railway (ECR) said the cause of the derailment was yet to be ascertained as investigation was underway by the railway. He stressed that it’s too early to say anything on reason behind derailment when asked about crack in the track could be the possible reasons. He also said the railway has its own way of investigating such cases.