At least three people were dead and nine left injured after thirteen coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna express jumped the rails near Manikpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh on Friday. Confirming the casualties, Chitrakoot SP Pratap Gopendra Singh said a father-son duo from Bettiah district of Bihar died on the spot while the third person died at a hospital. [caption id=“attachment_4225487” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
At least three people were killed when the Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailed in UP. Twitter @airnewsalerts[/caption] “Of those injured, two were serious and admitted to district hospital, Chitrakoot. Seven with minor injuries are being treated at Manikpur,” Singh said. The Patna-bound Vasco Da Gama Express (12741) derailed at 4.18 am, soon after leaving platform number 2 of the Manikpur railway station in Chitrakoot district, about 250 km from Lucknow, he said. According to ADG (Law and Order), Anand Kumar, prima facie it appears that fractured railway track is the cause of accident as per local assessment. Providing a breakup of the derailed coaches, North Central Railway PRO Amit Malviya said, the coaches which jumped off the rails were coaches numbered S3-S11, two general coaches and two extra coaches. “The injured have been rushed to the hospital and officials have left for the spot. Relief operations are underway,” North Central Railway PRO Amit Malviya said. He further said that soon after the accident, a medical train reached the spot and by 5.20 am, an accident relief train was dispatched for the spot. The divisional railway manager (DRM), Allahabad has already reached the spot while the General Manager, NCR is on his way, he said. In the aftermath of the derailment, movement of trains was disrupted on the Patna-Allahabad route. The train derailment in Chitrakoot comes less than 12 hours after a bolero had collided with a passenger train near Lucknow killing four and injuring two. With inputs from agencies
Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailment as it happened: Police identifies all three deceased
Thirteen coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna express derailed near Manikpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.
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Police identify the three deceased
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Deceased identified as father-son duo
The deceased have been identified as father-son duo, Ram Swaroop Patel and his son Deepak Patel, according to The Indian Express . They were both from Bettiah district of Bihar and died on the spot. The third person died at a hospital.
Coaches which jumped the rails
North Central Railway PRO Amit Malviya told The Times of India that the coaches which jumped off the rails were coaches numbered S3-S11, two general coaches and two extra coaches. He added that the injured have been rushed to the hospital and rescue operations are underway.
He further said that a medical train had reached the spot and by 5.20 am, an accident relief train was dispatched for the spot.
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Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announces ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to kin of dead in Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailment, Rs 1 lakh for those with grievous injuries. — PTI
Piyush Goyal monitoring situation
The 13 derailed coaches comprise S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, two extra sleeper coaches and two general coaches.
Rescue operations have started and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal is monitoring the situation.
North Central Railway spokesperson Amit Malviya told IANS that a train with the remaining passengers left for Patna at 7.25 am from Manikpur. — IANS
The problem of unmanned level crossings
Almost every fifth train accident in the last two fiscal years has happened due to unmanned level crossings spread across the country.
According to information provided in Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Railways, Rajen Gohain, Gujarat tops the list of unmanned level crossings at 1,895 (across broad and narrow gauge operations of the Railways), followed by Uttar Pradesh at 1,112 such crossings. There are 7,701 such crossings across the country.
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Train accident affects movement of other trains on route
According to News18 , the Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express train was traveling from Goa to Patna and the accident has affected movement of other trains on the route.
Anil Saxena, PRO Indian Railways, further said that a medical train had reached the accident spot at 5.20 am. An accident relief train had also been dispatched.
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Fractured railway track could be cause of accident
ANI quoted UP ADG (law and order) as saying that the cause of accident is most probably a fractured railway track “as per local assessment”.
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Two killed, 8 injured