NEW DELHI: In a third serious accident on tracks since June, two passengers were killed and nearly 20 injured when two wagons of a goods train derailed and hit 12810 Howrah-Mumbai Mail, travelling at 130 kmph, near Barabamboo station in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district early on Tuesday.
Railway officials said the derailment of the goods train and the arrival of the Howrah Mumbai Express on a parallel track took place simultaneously, adding there was no scope for alerting the express train. The officials said the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) would conduct a probe and ascertain the cause of mishap.
Kuldeep Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner of neighbouring West Singhbhum district, was among the first to reach the scene. He said the deceased passengers, both males, had been identified as Ajit Kumar Shyamal and P Bikash, both in their forties, from Rourkela.
Seraikela-Kharsawan SP Mukesh Lunayat told this reporter the two passengers, travelling in coach number B-4, were stuck in the area near the washroom. Their bodies were extricated by NDRF personnel using gas-cutters as the area got crushed due to the impact. None of the other victims were seriously injured.
The mishap led to the cancellation of several express and passenger trains, including the Howrah-Titlagarh-Kantabanji Express, Kharagpur-Jhargram-Dhanbad Express, Howrah-Barbil-Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express, Tatanagar-Itwari Express and Shalimar-LTT Express.
The mishap drew strong criticism from Opposition parties. “This government wants to make a record in train accidents. They had record number of paper leaks. Now, they want to create a record in railway accidents also,” said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee asked the government to fix accountability and take measures to prevent such incidents.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi questioned the government’s response to frequent instances of rail-related mishaps, accusing the government of “shameful apathy”.