(Updated
till 4.30 p.m.)
In an unfortunate accident in the
early hours today, 60 passengers lost their lives and 92 were injured when train
no. 3148, Uttarbanga Express (New Cooch
Behar-Sealdah) train collided from rear with train
no. 3404 Vannanchal Express ( Bhagalpur-Ranchi) which
was stationed at Platform No. 4 of Sainthia railway
station in Howrah division of Eastern Railway,
resulting in two last coaches of Vannanchal Express
being badly damaged. The accident site falls under Birbhum
District of West Bengal. The damaged coaches include one
Guard-cum-luggage-cum-Passenger (SLR) coach and one unreserved general 2nd
class coach. All the passengers in Uttarbanga Express
are safe and all the passengers in the remaining coaches of Vannanchal
Express are also safe. All the injured were immediately admitted in nearby
hospitals. Out of 92 injured passengers, 56 were admitted in in Suri
State Government
Hospital and 36 has
been shifted to Bardhaman Medical
College. Rescue operation
was in full swing since the occurrence of the accident and both the trains
involved in the accident left for their destinations after detaching the two
damaged coaches of Vannanchal Express train
The Minister of
Railways, Mamata Banerjee
who visited the accident site and hospitals, has termed the train accident as
most unfortunate and expressed her profound grief over the loss of innocent
lives. She has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 5/- lakh to the next kin of the
dead, Rs. 1/- lakh each to
grievously injured passengers and Rs. 25,000 to those
who sustained simple injuries. She has also
announced jobs in the Railways to one person of the deceased’s family. The Railway
Minister has given instructions to Railway officials for the speedy relief and
rescue operation and effective medical treatment to the injured passengers.
Railway Board officials
including, Chairman Railway Board, Shri Vivek Sahai, Member Electrical, Shri Sudesh Kumar, Member
Mechanical, Shri Sanjiv Handa, Director General Railway Health Services Dr. Ramteke and senior officials from Eastern Railways and Howrah Division have also reached the accident site to
monitor and supervise the rescue and relief operation.
For the convenience of
public, Helplines were set up at various railway
stations including. Howrah, Sainthia
, Sealdah, Burdhwan, Malda, Jamalpur, Dhanbad, Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, New Cooch Behar, Ranchi, Hatia and Bokharo Steel city.
Due to this accident
following trains have been diverted/cancelled:
Diverted trains
1. 3161 Kolkata
– Balurghat
Express
2. 5661 Ranchi – Guwhati Express
3. 3150 Alipurdiwar
– Sealdah Express
4. 2513 Secundrabad- Guwhati Express
Cancellation
1. 3048 Howrah
– Amritsar
Express
2. 215.216 Howrah – Ramprhar- Howrah Passenger
3. 217/218 Howrah –Rampurhat-Howrah Passenger
AKS/HK/LK/TR