One dead, five injured as train collides with cement mixer on tracks from Ferozepur in Punjab

A short distance train from Ferozepur rammed into a cement mixer truck stationed on the tracks near Ladhuka Mandi in Fazilka district of Punjab on Sunday morning, according to media reports. [caption id=“attachment_4121969” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Site of the train accident. Twitter @divya5521[/caption] The train (74971) had over seventy passengers aboard, of which over five were injured, according to Times Now channel. The Indian Express reported that the heavy impact of the train saw the truck tear through the train engine, killing the train driver KP Vikas, before remaining mangled in the engine. The truck loaded with concrete mixture, as per  The Tribune, was stationed at an unmanned railway crossing. The collision took place near Bahmniwala village, 25 kilometres from Fazilka on Fazilka-Ferozepur railway track. The Railways divisional manager for Ferozepur, Northern Railways, Vivek Kumar told The Indian Express that a subway was being constructed at the unmanned railway crossing. The truck driver, seeing the train approach, ran away without moving the truck. “It was an unmanned crossing and the tipper driver stationed the vehicle on the tracks. He also failed to move it away in time. Seeing the train approaching he ran away. He is absconding,” said Kumar. The incident occurs at a time when train derailments and accidents have been frequent in the past few months including the Utkal Express and Kaifiyat Express derailment which killed 24 people and injured 70 respectively. Following these accidents,  the Indian Railways reportedly decided to hire close to two lakh workers over the next few years in a massive recruitment drive to make travel safe.