Seven people were killed and over 11 injured in four different train accidents across the country within a span of 12 hours from Thursday to Friday. While three accidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh, one was from Odisha.
There were two derailments — one in Chitrakoot district that killed three people on Friday early morning, one of an engine decoupling from the wagon and a train hitting a car at an unmanned crossing. Railway Ministry has ordered enquiries into all the accidents and called a meeting on Saturday of all the stakeholders.
The spate of accidents began at 7.19 pm when a local train hit a Bolero vehicle at an unmanned crossing near Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, killing four people and injuring two. The vehicle, packed with people belonging to a marriage party, was hit at Matha Bhusunda village under the Musafirkhana police station,
Then, at 4.18 am, 13 coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailed near Manikpur in Uttar Pradesh, killing three people, including a six-year-old boy and his father, and injuring nine. The Patna-bound passenger train, which derailed soon after leaving the Manikpur Railway Station in Chitrakoot district, was moving slowly as a result of which casualties were less. Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani who was at Allahabad for an inspection rushed to the spot to assess the situation.
According to ADG (Law and Order), Anand Kumar, prima facie, a fractured railway track led to the accident "as per local assessment". The railways announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the dead, Rs 1 lakh for those with grievous injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with simple injuries.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also declared Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed, Rs 50,000 to each of the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 to those who suffered minor injuries, an official release said.
Less than two hours after the Manikpur derailment, a Paradeep-Cuttack goods train jumped the rails between Goraknath and Raghunathpur in Odisha at 5.55 am. While no deaths were reported, the down line is expected to remain disrupted till Saturday morning.
In the fourth incident, the engine of Jammu-Patna Archana Express separated from the train near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. This happened twice. The engine decoupled at around 2.35 am and was recoupled and cleared by 3.17 am. However, the engine and the first coach (same as earlier) separated at around 5.25 am and was reattached at 6.05 am. The train finally departed at 7.25 am after all security clearances were received.