At least three people were killed after two good trains collided near a village in the Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh on the wee hours of Sunday, news agencies confirmed. The bodies are likely those to be of the two drivers of the trains and a points-man. However, the deceased are yet to be identified definitively.
The accident took place at 4:40 AM when a coal train heading from Amlori mine collided with an empty goods train near Ghanhari village, Singrauli's Additional Superintendent of Police Pradeep Shende told news agency PTI.
The accident was so severe that thirteen wagons an engine shot out of the tracks, right after the collision.
The track on which the accident occurred is managed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for coal transportation from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh, Shende told PTI.
The accident might have occurred due to some error from any of the drivers or may have been a result of some fault in signalling. However, the accident has not affected passenger train traffic as it occurred on the track exclusively used by the NTPC to ferry coal for power generation, the official said.
Meanwhile, East Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar in a statement said the Indian Railways has nothing to do with the accident.