New Delhi: At least 10 people died and over 40 were injured after a goods train rammed into the passenger vehicle Kanchanjunga Express in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri.
The Kanchanjunga Express was bound for Sealdah, in Kolkata.
The collision caused the derailment of three coaches of the train between Neechbari and Rangapani stations. These stations are under the jurisdiction of the Indian Railways’ Northeast Frontier Railway. Visuals of the site, posted on social media, show a coach precariously hanging in the air.
पश्चिम बंगाल में कंचनजंगा एक्सप्रेस मालगाड़ी के टकराने से दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने की घटना दूर्भाग्यपूर्ण है। मुझे उम्मीद ही नहीं बल्कि पूरा भरोसा है कि नकारा रेलमंत्री अश्विनी वैष्णव अपना नैतिक आधार पर इस्तीफा नहीं देंगे क्योंकि उसे संघ और जाति का प्रिविलेज प्राप्त है। #TrainAccident pic.twitter.com/q1yBBEG7d4
— Hansraj Meena (@HansrajMeena) June 17, 2024
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Rescue work, as Indian Express has reported, is affected by heavy rain that has been lashing north Bengal since morning today. The ABP Ananda news channel has broadcast bytes of passengers as having said that no rescue personnel arrived for up to two hours after the incident. “We have not got any food since the accident,” a passenger was quoted by the channel as having said.
Rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has posted on X that Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia will be given in case of death, Rs 2.5 lakh towards grievous injuries and Rs 50,000 for minor ones.
Help Desk Numbers issued by the Railways are as follows:
Sealdah
033-23508794
033-23833326
GHY Station
03612731621
03612731622
03612731623
Kir station
6287801805
Katihar
09002041952
9771441956
LMG
03674263958
03674263831
03674263120
03674263126
03674263858
Accidents have continued to plague the Indian Railways.
On June 2, 2023, three trains collided in Balasore district in Odisha, killing 293 people and injuring 1,200 people. Alongside a preliminary report that five railway officials submitted, pointing to a faulty signal as a probable cause, one of the five also submitted a ‘dissent note’ which hinted at the possibility of record-tampering, The Wire had reported.
In late 2023, reports had said that there was an increase in consequential accidents across the Indian Railways’ network in 2021-22. Nine were killed in train accidents in 2021-22 and 45 were injured. There were 35 consequential train accidents 2021-22, against 21 in 2020-21. Of these, 26 were derailments (16 in 2020-21), two collisions (one in 2020-21) and four incidents of fire (three in 2020-21).
Note: The article has been edited since publication to reflect the final death toll.
