Hummingbird News Desk
JALPAIGURI, 14 JAN: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said that preliminary investigations have indicated that an ‘equipment issue of the locomotive’ might be the reason behind the train accident in Jalpaiguri yesterday. He made this comment before the Press after inspecting the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train accident site today.
A total of twelve coaches of the Guwahati-Bikaner Express derailed in the Domohani area of Jalpaiguri district on Thursday evening. Nine people were killed and 36 injured in the accident.
Talking to reporters after inspecting the accident site in Maynaguri, Mr Vaishnaw said that the actual reason behind the accident could be ascertained only after dismantling the engine’s equipment. He also met injured passengers at the hospital.
“The issue was with the locomotive’s equipment, not with speed restrictions or tracks. There will be marks on the equipment. Only after dismantling it and studying those marks, the reason behind the accident can be ascertained,” he told reporters.
“The root cause (behind the accident) will soon come out. An inquiry into the incident is under way. We pray for the departed souls and wish for a speedy recovery of the injured. Talks are on with the families regarding the distribution of ex-gratia,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Vaishnaw arrived at Domohani railway station at 9.38 am and proceeded to the derailment site within two minutes on a motor trolley, NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Guneet Kaur said in Guwahati.
“The minister conducted a trolley inspection to ascertain the condition of the track and fittings. At the accident site, he conducted a thorough inspection of the under frame of the locomotive and its braking system,” she said.
She said that the death toll had risen to nine, with three of the deceased yet to be identified.
The number of injured currently stands at 36. While 23 passengers are undergoing treatment at a super specialty hospital in Jalpaiguri, six are admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and seven at Maynaguri Rural Hospital, the CPRO said.
The Railways has announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of those killed in the accident, Rs 1 lakh for the grievously injured, and Rs 25,000 for passengers with simple injury. Ms Kaur said authorities were trying to get in touch with the family members of the deceased for disbursement of the compensation.
The NFR official also said that evacuation of people from the mangled coaches was completed on Thursday night and a special train had left the accident site for Guwahati at 9.50 pm with 290 passengers on board.
The train reached Guwahati railway station at 7.55 am on Friday and arrangements for food were made for the passengers, Ms Kaur stated. There were 1,053 passengers onboard the express train at the time of the derailment.
NFR General Manager Anshul Gupta, who reached the site of derailment at 12.08 am on Friday, is currently supervising the restoration work of tracks for resuming normal train movement.
He visited various hospitals on Thursday night and early on Friday to check the condition of the injured patients, Ms Kaur said.
“Restoration work is being undertaken on war footing under the supervision of the general manager. Some of the derailed coaches have already been re-railed,” she explained.
At least nine trains were diverted through alternative routes following the accident, which include Guwahati-Howrah Saraighat Express, Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Express, New Delhi-Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express and Trivandrum-Silchar Express and Kanchanjungha Express.
According to the Railways, the Guwahati-Bikaner Express 15633 (up) that started from Bikaner in Rajasthan was heading to Guwahati in Assam via Patna when the accident took place near Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri around 5.15 p.m. on Thursday. Maynaguri was not one of the train’s 34 stoppages and the Bikaner Express was merely passing Jalpaiguri at the time of the incident.
Tags: #TrainAccident #Jalpaiguri #RailMinister #AshwiniVaishnaw #GuwahatiBikanerExpress
