Three persons were killed when two goods trains of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) collided in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday morning.
“The persons were operating one of the trains carrying coal from NCL mines to an NTPC plant in Rihand Nagar of Uttar Pradesh, when another train coming from the opposite direction collided into it around 5 a.m.,” District Collector K.V.S. Choudary said.
Wagons derailed
Thirteen wagons of one of the trains and an engine jumped off the tracks following the collision.
Three bodies were pulled out from the engine, said Singrauli Additional Superintendent of Police Pradeep Shende.
The deceased were identified as Rasheed Ahmed, 65, and Mandeep Kumar, 26, both hailing from Uttar Pradesh, and Ramlakhan Bais, 29, a local resident,
While the trapped bodies had been recovered from the spot, the tracks, meant only for coal transport, were being cleared of carriages using cranes and trucks, he added.
Families of the deceased may get compensation by the NTPC.
It seems the accident occurred either due to an error on part of the drivers or because of some fault in signaling, said Mr. Shende.
The cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained. “The NTPC is investigating the matter,” said Mr. Choudary.
Meanwhile, East Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Rajesh Kumar, in a statement said the Indian Railways has nothing to do with the accident.
The accident took place in the Merry Go Round system completely owned and operated by NTPC, Rihand, he said.
(With PTI inputs)