M A I N   N E W S

Train driver, asst crushed to death
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 2
A goods train driver and his assistant were crushed to death by another goods train on its way from Chandigarh to Ambala at Dapar near Lalru here tonight.

Sources said the incident took place around 8 pm when the goods train from Ambala was shunted to an adjoining track to make way for the train going from Chandigarh.

While the train was shunted to another track, the duo got off the train for a stroll. Meanwhile, the train from the opposite direction sped down the track, killing the two on the spot. Poor visibility and miscalculation of the track resulted in the accident.

The deceased are Gurcharan Singh (48) and his assistant, Manmohan Lal (45), who were residents of the Railway Colony, Ambala Cantonment.

Fog hits train, air services
Patiala shivers at 2.7°C

Wrapped in a shawl to keep warm, a woman walks in a park during a foggy day in New Delhi on Wednesday. — Reuters photo

Chandigarh, January 2
With cold wave tightening its grip over the entire northwest region on the ninth day today, people in and around Ambala (Haryana) and Jammu, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, shivered as the mercury in the low dropped to 1.8°C the lowest of the season so far.

Patiala was the coldest place in Punjab, as the minimum temperature today plummeted to 2.7°C. Ludhiana (4.9°C) and Amritsar (4.9°C) were the other colder places in the state.

The day temperature in and around Chandigarh rose to 19.4°C as the sun shone briskly after experiencing the lowest of the minimum at 2.6°C, today. As fog lifted around 9 a.m., the sun shone brightly, bringing the much- needed respite to the people for the second day today.

A dense fog continued to play havoc with rail, road and air traffic in the region. As visibility was reduced to near nil at Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda (Punjab), Ambala, Karnal, Sonepat (Haryana), Saharanpur and Ghaziabad (UP), Suratgarh (Rajasthan) and Palam (Delhi), vehicular traffic moved at a snail’s pace with headlights on.

Train services in the region were again hit badly . The worst hit were the Howrah-Amritsr Mail, duplicate Howrah-Amritsar, Punjab Mail and Bombay-Jammu Tawi Superfast. These trains ran late by seven to eight hours. The New Delhi-Chandigarh and return Shatabdi Express were delayed by 1.25 hours and 45 minutes, respectively. Himalayan Queen to Kalka, Shaan-e-Punjab and Swaran Shatabdi to Amritsar were delayed by one to two hours.

The far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including its summer capital Srinagar, and the adjoining tribal belt of Himachal reeled under 5 to 10°C sub-zero (temperatures).

Delhites shivered again today with the mercury at Safdarjung hovered around 5.5°C.

While people in the plains shivered, the minimum in and around Shimla, the state capital of HP, today dipped to 4.7°C from 7.1°C yesterday. Bhuntar, Sundernagar reported the lows of zero and 0.5°C temperatures this morning.

The weatherman have ruled out any rain or snow in the region for the next 48 hours. Mainly sunny days in HP and fog or low clouding have been forecast in Punjab and Haryana during this period. UNI