Agartala: July 30: Two people were killed and at least 20 injured when 18 coaches of the Mumbai-Howrah Mail derailed in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district early on Tuesday. A special control room was opened at Howrah railway station, while three express trains were cancelled due to the accident.
Saraikela district development commissioner Prabhat Kumar confirmed the fatalities. The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Phatepani and Seraikela.
According to officials, the accident took place at 3.45 am near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under the Chakradharpur Division of the South Eastern Railway (SER). The passenger train approaching from the other side of the line collided with a derailed goods train, said a local administration official.
An SER spokesperson, Om Prakash Charan, said out of the 18 derailed coaches, 16 are passenger coaches, one power car and one pantry car.
Officials said 80 per cent passengers have been sent to Chakradharpur station by bus and a rescue train has also reached the site to clear the rest of the passengers. Rescue teams reached the accident site and started relief operations while a police team from West Bengal and NDRF teams from Patna are on their way, they said.
Sources in the West Bengal administration said top officials of the state government are in touch with the Jharkhand government. Two special rescue teams have gone to Chakradharpur, they said.
The trains that were cancelled are: 22861 Howrah-Katpadi Express, 08015/18019 Kharagpur-Dhanbad Express, and 12021/12022 Howrah-Barbil-Howrah Express. Here are the helplines established by the railways:
Howrah: 9433357920/03326382217
Shalimar: 6295531471/7595074427
Kharagpur: 03222293764
Ranchi: 06512787115
Tatanagar: 06572290324
Chakradharpur: 06587238072
Rourkela: 06612501072/06612500244
Mumbai CSMT: 02222694040
Dadar: 9136452387
Kalyan: 8356848078
Thane: 9321336747
Nagpur: 7757912790
