Indore-Patna Express derailed-over 120 dead-Probe begins

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14 coaches of Indore-Patna Express with more than 500 passengers derailed near Kanpur on an early Sunday morning. The incident happened at about 3:00 am in the morning. It was a fatal accident which has left over a hundred of dead bodies and much more seriously injured. According to the latest reports, the death toll has risen to near about 150 and injury count is over 200.

The overnight passenger train, Indore-Patna Express, rolled off the track when most of the passengers were sleeping. The rescue workers reached the spot and were working through the night to help people.

At around 3 am, passengers woke up with a heavy jolt. Ramchandra Tewari, who suffered a head injury, told the reporters he suddenly flung to the floor of his coach while he was asleep. It was a loud sound and felt like it was an earthquake. He fell from his berth and the luggage fell over him. He thought he would die. He passed out after that.

Another passenger in  told that the speed of the train was normal when the incident happened. It stopped suddenly with an abrupt force. It restarted again and then they heard the sound of a crash. They came out of their coach to see what happened. They saw that some of the coaches of Indore-Patna Express had derailed.

The impact of the accident was so strong that one of the coaches end up on top of another coach, crushing it completely. The train coaches were smashed against each other.

It is the biggest train accident in India since last six years. The accident occurred near the village of Pukhrayan, outside of Kanpur, an industrial city about 250 miles southeast of New Delhi. The Indore-Patna Express links the city of Indore to the city of Patna and completes its 845-mile journey in 27 hours.

Rescue workers, soldiers and members of India’s disaster management force reached the accident spot within an hour of the derailment and started helping people. The pulled out people who were trapped in fallen coaches. The coaches were so angled that rescue workers had to use cutting torches to open the derailed coaches. Then only they were able to reach out to those who were trapped inside. The also used cranes to lift the coaches from the track. The rescue workers had to be careful with their work as some of the coaches were precariously tilted. There was a possibility that theses coaches could topple and injured those who were still trapped inside.

About 120 dead bodies have been identified. The government has started the process of handing the dead bodies to their relatives. RTO officers are arranging the vehicles  so that the families can take the bodies.

Medical teams provided first aid to injured on the spot. While severely injured were taken to hospitals in Kanpur. The survivors were escorted to Kanpur where they were sent to their respective destinations by special trains and buses.

Kanpur is a busy railway station. Hundreds of trains pass through it every day. Following the accident, the route of several trains was diverted and several others were delayed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern over the accident.

“Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Modi posted on his Twitter account.

The exact cause of the derailment was not immediately clear. An unidentified railway official said that the fault in the track may have caused the accident. Such accidents are a common story in Indian railways which lack modern communication technology. Poor maintenance and human error are behind a lot of such accidents.

An Indian government report, in 2012, stated about 15,000 people are killed every year in train accidents. Most of these are caused mainly by outdated equipment and overstretched staff.

PROBE BEGINS

The probe into the derailment of Indore-Patna Express began on Monday. P K Acharya, Commissioner of Railway Safety, visited the site. He examined the track and derailed coaches. The officials video graphed the accident site and the entire process of investigation. Mr. P K Acharya also questioned the railway technical staff and engineers in regard of the derailment.

Deputy General Manager North Central Railway (NCR), Mr. Amit Mishra said that if anyone has any piece of information about the accident, they can share with him. They can meet him at Kanpur railway station from morning till evening on 22ND and 23rd November.

Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu said in Lok Sabha that a statutory inquiry has been ordered. The cause of the accident will be found and the guilty will be punished. They will use latest technical and forensic analysis for the investigation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has planned to invest $137 billion over the next 5 years to modernize India’s railway network, which carries around 23 million passengers a day.

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