by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
New Delhi : Six coaches of the New Delhi-Varanasi Manduadih Express derailed at the New Delhi Railway station. No injuries were reported.
A Northern Railway official told IANS: “The incident took place at around 10.30 p.m. on Thursday when the train was about to depart from New Delhi.”
“The reason of the derailment is not clear yet. An inquiry has been ordered,” the official said.
Of the six coaches that derailed, one was an AC coach, three sleepers, one general and one inspection coach.
The accident occurred soon after the train started to move out of New Delhi’s platform no 12. It stopped with a sudden jerk. Some coaches were tilted. Passengers were evacuated by the railways and security officials.
All six coaches were replaced and the departure was rescheduled to 1 a.m. on Friday.
Rail traffic on the route was delayed by three hours due to the derailment.
In 2017, over seven derailments have occurred in Delhi region, which is one of the busiest sections of the Indian Railways. These included two Rajdhani Express.
On September 14, the guard coach of the Jammu Rajdhani Express derailed on arrival on Thursday at the New Delhi Railway Station at 6.20 a.m. No casualties were reported.
On September 7, the engine and power car of the Ranchi Rajdhani Express, which was on its way to Delhi, had derailed at the Shivaji Bridge minutes before it entered the station.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Lucknow : At least seven coaches of the Shaktipunj Express derailed near Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. No one was injured.
According to railway officials, the incident occurred near Obara around 6 a.m. The train from Howrah in West Bengal was headed to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
East Central Railway Spokesperson Rajesh Kumar told IANS, all stranded passengers were shifted to the unaffected front coaches of the express and brought to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh.
“The train with the rest of the passengers left from the accident site around 7.30 a.m.,” Kumar said.
“General Managers and other senior officials have rushed to the accident spot and work was on to restore the traffic,” he said.
The reason for the derailment was not yet clear. However, Kumar ruled out the possibility of broken tracks, and said, “The matter is under investigation. We can only comment after the enquiry is complete.”
This is the fourth major train derailment in a month and first after Piyush Goyal took over as the new Railway Minister on Monday.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offered to resign “taking full responsibility” for train accidents and said Modi had asked him to “wait”.
Hours after a second train derailed in four days, Prabhu called on the Prime Minister “taking full responsibility” for the state of affairs. “PM has asked me to wait,” he tweeted.
On Saturday, the Kalinga Utkal Express derailed in Muzaffarnagar district leaving 22 people dead. Even as the railways cracked down on errant officials and staff, the Kaifiyat Express derailed in Auraiya district on Wednesday injuring 74 people. Both accidents took place in Uttar Pradesh.
Though Prabhu did not specifically mention that he had offered to resign, there has been intense speculation that he may have offered to resign considering the language of his tweets.
Railway Board Chairman A.K. Mittal has also offered to resign in the wake of the accidents. But there was no confirmation if Mittal has quit.
“I am extremely pained by the unfortunate accidents, injuries to passengers and loss of precious lives. It has caused me deep anguish,” the Railway Minister said.
“New India envisioned by PM deserves a Railways which is efficient and modern. I promise that is the path, on which Railways is progressing now.”
Prabhu said that he had tried to overcome “decades of neglect through systemic reforms in all areas leading to unprecedented investment and milestones”.
He said in less than three years as Minister, “I have devoted my blood and sweat for the betterment of the Railways”.
A Chartered Accountant by profession, 64-year-old Prabhu — formerly in the Shiv Sena — joined the BJP in May 2014 before he was inducted into the cabinet as the Railway Minister.
After the Saturday accident involving the Kalinga Utkal Express, the Congress said that since the Modi government took power in 2014, 259 passengers had died and 899 had been injured in 27 rail accidents.
An initial probe into the Kalinga Utkal Express tragedy found that the accident was caused due to negligence by railway staff.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Muzaffarnagar : At least 23 people were killed and at least 40 injured in a major derailment when 14 coaches of the Kalinga Utkal Express bound for Haridwar in Uttarakhand went off the tracks with one of the coaches mounting on another near Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening.
More casualties are feared as a number of passengers are said to have been trapped in the derailed coaches. Union Minister and Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjay Balyan, who reached the spot, claimed nearly 60 people were injured.
The state police however put the dead at 23 and injured at 40.
“Twentythree people have died, and 40 are injured,” the office of the Director General of Police office said in a revised release. The earlier release it issued had put the number of injured at 400.
With nightfall adding to difficulties, the railways were engaged in a grim battle for rescuing those trapped by deploying heavy gas cutters and other equipments to break open into the coaches.
The accident occurred around 5.45 p.m. when 14 coaches of the Puri-Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express bound for Haridwar derailed in Khatauli in Meerut-Saharanpur Division. The impact of the accident was so severe that one of the coaches could be seen mounted on another while another coach had crashed into the Chowdhary Tilakram Inter College along the tracks.
Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena said that 14 of the coaches had derailed, while the state police chief’s press release said eight coaches had derailed.
Police and railway officials said they were keeping all options open when asked whether there could be a terror angle in the accident.
The railways and police summoned all equipments including heavy lift cranes and gas cutters to access the affected coaches and cut through them to bring passengers to safety.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also rushed forces to join the rescue operation. Its chief Sanjay Kumar said 20 bodies have been recovered so far.
A team of the ATS of the state police has been rushed to the accident site, an official told IANS. The team headed by DSP Anoop Singh will probe any terror angle into the rail accident.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed Principal Secretary, Home, Arvind Kumar and the Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate to ensure prompt rescue and relief operations at Khatauli. He also deputed two ministers – Satish Mahana and Suresh Rana – to rush to the accident site to oversee the rescue and relief operations.
He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the dead, Rs 50,000 to this injured.
Two dozen people, many women and children have been admitted to nearby medical facilities for treatment. The train had left Puri at 9 p.m. on Friday night and was to terminate at Haridwar at 9 p.m. Saturday night.
Railway officials said a medical train was on way and that trains on the route have been diverted through Shamli.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Ajay Kumar told IANS that police teams were trying to rescue as many passengers trapped in the coaches as possible.
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3.5 lakh each to the kin of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 each for those seriously injured. He also announced Rs 25,000 for passengers with minor injuries.
He said he was personally monitoring the situation and a probe has been ordered.
“I am personally monitoring situation. Have instructed senior officers to reach site immediately and ensure speedy rescue and relief operations,” Prabhu said in series of tweets.
“Have ordered an inquiry into the unfortunate accident to ascertain the cause. Strict action will be taken against any lapse,” he said.
The Minister said that medical vans have been rushed to the site. All efforts are being taken to ensure speedy relief and rescue operations, he said.
“I have instructed Chairman Railway Board, Member Traffic to oversee rescue and relief operations,” he said, adding that he has also instructed the General Manager, other senior officials to ensure all possible help to the people.
The Minister said that he was in close touch with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and state government officials, district administration to coordinate rescue and relief operations
Adityanath said that rescue operation has been taken up on a war footing with railways and the state government working together.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi have condoled the deaths and expressed sympathies for the families of those who lost their lives.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala took a dig at the Modi government over rail safety, saying that 259 passengers have lost their lives in 27 rail accidents in the last three years.
“When will government wake up?” he asked.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Muzaffarnagar/New Delhi : Authorities on Sunday registered a criminal complaint against unknown people for mischief and causing deaths by negligence and began a probe into the Saturday train accident in Uttar Pradesh amid varying casualty figures.
Mohd Jamshed from the Railway Board told the media in New Delhi that the disaster involving the Kalinga Utkal Express at Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district claimed 20 lives and left 92 injured. Twenty-two of them were in critical condition.
But officials in Uttar Pradesh put the death toll at 24 and announced an end to rescue work. At least 156 people were injured, they said. The injured were being treated at medical facilities in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut.
In New Delhi, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said he had told the Chairman of the Railway Board to fix responsibility for the disaster by Sunday evening on the strength of prima facie evidence.
“Will not allow laxity in operations by the Board,” Prabhu tweeted.
Jamshed said the railways were probing the accident from all angles and a case had been registered by the railway police under relevant sections for “causing damage or destruction of railway properties, for mischief, for death by negligence, for causing grievous hurt, injuring lives by overlooking safety”.
He admitted that some maintenance work was under way at the accident site and safety authorities would look into possible sabatoge and “if all precautions were taken” while the repair work was being conducted.
“Some track maintenance equipment (apparently left behind by repair workers) were found at the accident site. All these things will be investigated. Forensic help will be taken.”
A railway official requesting anonymity said it appeared that negligence was the prima facie reason that led to the tragedy. “Action against some senior officials is likely.”
The Kalinga Utkal Express was on its way from Puri in Odisha to Haridwar in Uttarakhand on Saturday when some of its coaches derailed at Khatauli. The accident was so severe that some of the derailed coaches mounted on others.
As the authorities probed the reason for the crash, an unverified telephonic conversation apparently between two railway employees widely circulated on social media on Sunday hinted that “negligence” may have caused the accident.
The nearly 15-minute audio clip could not be verified independently. Jamshed said they were looking into it.
One of the men in the audio clip apparently posted at a crossing near the accident site says “poor patrolling” on the track where maintenance work was under way was one of the causes.
“Welding work was under way at a section of the railway track… but the workers did not fix the block of the track and left it loose. Gates near the crossing were closed. A piece (of the track) was not fixed and when the Utkal Express arrived, 14 of its coaches got derailed,” one of the railway employees is heard saying.
“Neither the line, on which the work was under way, was fixed nor they had put any flag or a signboard (as a stop signal). The accident occurred due to negligence. It seems all (concerned employees) will be suspended,” he says.
The other replies that heads will roll and all including “Junior Engineer and other officials” were likely to face action.
They also tell each other that the workers had left some equipment between the tracks after finishing their work. “At least they could have removed the machine and put a red flag there, perhaps the tragedy could have been averted.”
Railways spokesperson Anil Saxena told IANS that a terror angle was not being been ruled out.
The railway staff was working to clear the derailed coaches and repair the damaged tracks as all trains on the route have been diverted. The operation to resume services on the track was expected to be completed by Sunday night.
A Home Department official said 90 ambulances and four teams of the National Disaster Relief Force were engaged in rescue work through the night but many relatives of the dead and injured complained of lack of ambulances to ferry the injured to hospitals.
—IANS
