49 Die, 89 Seriously Injured as Trains Ram into Each-other in WB
Nearly 49 persons have been killed and 89 others seriously wounded when Uttarbanga Express rammed into stationary Vananchal Express at Sainthia station near Bolpur, Santiniketan, in the wee hours today, said media reports.
The crash was so intense that a coach flew to a 25-feet high road overbridge after and two compartments were badly mangled, reports said.
As many as 49 bodies had been pulled out of the Vananchal Express coaches till 8.30 am and the toll is expected to rise further as rescue operation is still underway, said reports.
According to reports, prima facie, the accident occurred due to human error. Preliminary investigation indicated that the driver of Uttarbanga Express had overshot a red signal before the station.
While the Vananchal Express from Bhagalpur to Ranchi was running several hours late, what has baffled railwaymen is why the Cooch Behar-Sealdah Uttarbanga Express that had a scheduled halt at the station arrived at such high speed, reports said.
An Eastern Railway spokesman said the Vananchal Express was standing at platform 4 when the speeding Uttarbanga Express hit it from the rear around 2 am on Monday, said reports.
Three rear coaches of the Vananchal Express bore the brunt of the collision and were badly mangled.
Rescue workers are using gas-cutters to cut open the coaches and bring out the dead and rescue the injured, reports said.
The injured passengers are being sent to hospitals in Sainthia and Birbhum district headquarters Suri.
An accident relief train and a medical relief train have also reached Sainthia. Rescue operation teams have reached Sainthia from Rampurhat, Asansol and Burdwan.
Train movement on the down line has been suspended in the Bolpur-Rampurhat section. The down Malda-Howrah Intercity Express has been cancelled and several trains are stranded on the down line.
Railway minister Mamata Banerjee, railway board chairman Vivek Sahay, railway board member (electrical) Sudesh Kumar and director general of railway health service B K Ramteke, Eastern Railway general manager V N Tripathy and other senior officials have left for Sainthia, said reports.
The minister has ordered an inquiry into the mishap. Eastern Railway safety commissioner Arti Yadav will lead the probe, reports said.
Helpline Numbers
Eastern Railway has opened control rooms following the accident. The stations and their phone numbers are-
Sealdah-033-23503535, 033-23503535, 033-23503537 and 033-23503537
Malda-06436-222061, 06436-222061
Bhagalpur – 06412-4222433
Jamalpur – 063444-3101
(Based on internet reports)
