M A I N   N E W S

120 die in worst Rajdhani mishap

Rafiganj (Bihar), September 10
More than 120 persons were feared killed and about 180 injured, some of them critically, when the new Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express from Howrah jumped tracks hurtling one of the bogies into a virtually dry river bed with many others dangling from an 86-year-old bridge near here late last night.

Seventy bodies have been recovered from the mangled coaches while 13 of the injured died in hospitals in Sasaram, Rafiganj and Gaya, Mughalsarai Divisional Railway Manager K.K. Saxena said. Only one coach is yet to be opened, he said.

Railway Minister Nitish Kumar, who was among the first to reach the spot about 200 km from Patna, also did not rule out sabotage as fish plates had been found removed.

In New Delhi, his Deputy Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya echoed Kumar’s views but said he would not like to contradict Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who had earlier in the day said he had not received information that it was sabotage.

Northern Railway officials said in Delhi 40 of those killed had been identified. Of the injured 89 had been identified.

The train running at a normal speed of 120 to 130 kmph with 528 listed passengers and about 60 railway staff derailed at 10.43 p m on a British-built bridge on the Dhave river. Coach number AS-1 with a capacity of 64 berths was the worst hit as it fell into the dry river bed.

A PTI correspondent who visited the site found that of the 14 bogies that had derailed, six were piled up on each other. The one that lay on the river bed was badly smashed. Four of the six coaches, including the pantry car and the generator van, were also badly mangled.

Rescuers joined by Army personnel deployed cranes and used gas cutters to break into the compartments to extricate trapped passengers and bodies. So far 50 bodies have been recovered.

It was the worst accident involving the prestigious Rajdhani Express. Rescue and relief operations, by Army jawans, were hampered by incessant rains. Muddy terrain made the movement of vehicles and ambulances difficult in the area.

Official sources said two bogies of the train were smashed badly and bodies could be taken out only after cutting them open with gas cutters. A few survivors were trapped inside the mangled bogies.

Railways sources said 182 persons were injured in the accident on the luxury train. Sources said 90 of them had been admitted to Rafiganj Referral Hospital and 20 to Magadh Medical College Hospital of Gaya. Other injured passengers were rushed to government and private clinics of Aurangabad and Sasaram. Nine passengers had received life-threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (Operations) Neelmani said in Patna that it was premature to comment on the reason, which led to the accident. He said the accident site fell in the extremist-dominated area of the state.

However, past records of ultras did not show their habit of derailing a train, carrying passengers. The Railway Minister said prima facie it appeared to be a case of sabotage as “I can clearly see the fish plates on the left track had been removed.”

He said the track was “one of the safest.” A technical inspection of the track was done recently and since it was found to be one of the safest there was no speed restriction on it.

The train might have been running at a speed of 120 to 130 km per hour when it derailed, he said adding the Commissioner, Railway Safety (eastern region) Premchandra was conducting an inquiry into the accident.

Kumar said 350 passengers had already been sent to New Delhi and Kolkata by special trains.

Asked about authorities in Bihar ruling out sabotage, he said “I do not want to enter into any argument on the issue at this stage but what I can see at the spot looks to be a clear case of sabotage.”

The Minister said the condition of the bridge was alright and there was no restriction on trains speed there.

When asked how the engine of the train could cross the affected track, he said it was possible with the momentum of speed.

The accident site presented a heart rending sight with trapped passengers screaming for help and those rescued frantically searching for their kin.

Rescuers said limbs of some of the trapped passengers would have to be severed to extricate them from the mangled bogies.

P.K.Ganguly, a senior accountant with the Railways who was on his way to Delhi to attend an official meeting along with his colleague G.C. Mazumdar, said, “I was jolted out of my sleep by the bone-rattling wobble of the train.... moments later I found that the train had derailed.

“I somehow managed to remove the clips of the ceiling fan cover to smash the window panes to force my way out of the train....some others also similarly managed to escape” a visibly shocked Ganguly said.

Ishaq, a Bangladeshi national travelling in coach number AS4 said three of his family members were missing though the Army personnel rescued him 12 hours after the accident. PTI, UNI