Guwahati.Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Friday visited the accident site in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, where nine people were killed and at least 12 coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train derailed on Thursday. At least 36 others have been injured. Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) spokesperson said that the Railway Minister inspected the tracks and the locomotives at the accident site.
The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained and a committee has been formed to probe it. Twelve coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train derailed on Thursday near Domohani in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district and some overturned. NFR spokesperson Guneet Kaur said Vaishnav reached Domohani railway station at 9:38 am and left for the spot on a motor trolley within two minutes.
“He inspected the trolley itself to ascertain the status of the track and repair works,” Kaur said. At the accident site, the Minister made a thorough inspection of the ‘underframe’ of the rail-engine and its ‘braking system’. He said that NFR General Manager Anshul Gupta reached the spot late on Thursday at 12:08 pm and is monitoring the restoration work of the tracks to normalize the movement of trains. “An inquiry committee has been constituted to find out the reasons behind the derailment,” Kaur told PTI. He said that the death toll in the accident has risen to nine, out of which three are yet to be identified. 36 others were injured in the accident.
Of these, 23 people are being treated at ‘Super Specialty Hospital’ in Jalpaiguri, while six people are admitted in North Bengal Medical College and seven in Maynaguri Rural Hospital. NFR General Manager Anshul Gupta reached various hospitals on Thursday night and early Friday to inquire about the condition of the injured.
The CRPO said that the evacuation of the passengers was completed at around 10 pm on Thursday and a special train carrying 290 stranded passengers left for Guwahati from the spot at around 9.50 pm. Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) GP Singh tweeted that the special train reached Guwahati Railway Station at around 8.30 am. The NFR said in a statement on Thursday that 1,053 passengers were on board the train at the time of the accident.
Indian Railways has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh each for critically injured and Rs 25,000 each for minor injured passengers. The CRPO said that at least 10 trains have been canceled on Friday. The services of some trains will terminate before their destination stations, while some trains will start from other stations instead of their departure stations. At the same time, the route of 10 other long distance trains has been changed.