250 killed, 462 injured in West Bengal train mishap

Gaisal (West Bengal), August 2: At least 250 passengers were killed and over 460 injured in one of the worst rail accidents when the Delhi-bound Brahmaputra mail collided head-on with the Guwahati-bound Awadh-Assam express here, 80 km from New Jalpaiguri junction early on Monday.

While railway officials in Delhi confirmed 190 deaths and injury to 310 others, BSF officials supervising rescue operations at the site said 200 bodies had already been extricated from the badly twisted remains of the two trains which collided at 0155 hours (IST). Another 50 bodies were lying at different hospitals nearby where the condition of over 100 injured was “serious”, rescuers and voluntary organisations said. The injured were being treated in hospitals in Islampur, Siliguri and Kishangunj, senior railway officials said. The drivers and assistant drivers of both the trains were among the dead, they said.

West Bengal minister of state for civil defence Srikumar Mukherjee, who was supervising rescue operations, expressed apprehension that the toll might cross the 500 mark. He said that four telescoped coaches were precariously positioned, giving rise to the fear that they might tumble down, endangering the lives of trapped survivors and rescue workers.

Rescuers feared about 250 passengers were still trapped in the four bogies, which could not be reached till this evening due to lack of gas cutters and their precarious position, and chances of their survival were bleak.

The Railway Ministry announced a statutory inquiry into the cause of the accident by chief commissioner of railway safety, M Mani. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar accompanied by senior railway officials visited the site and met some of the injured passengers in nearby hospitals. The government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25,000 to the next of those killed, Rs 5,000 to those grievously injured and Rs 500 to those with minor injuries.

According to chairman of North Dinajpur zilla parishad, Nirmal Mukherjee, who is manning a control room at Islampur, bodies of the victims were being taken to the North Bengal Medical College hospital at Siliguri for identification. Stranded passengers of both the trains were being transported to Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri by special trains, railway officials said.

An earlier report had said that an explosion tore through the two trains, but later railway officials said it was a head-on collision, a rare occurrence on a double-line section.

A railway source said the accident could be due to a human error, while a government railway police (GRP) official said it was due to a signal failure.

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