M A I N   N E W S

34 perish in rail tunnel mishap
Landslides caused derailment

Mumbai, June 23
At least 34 persons, including three children and four women, were killed and 25 others injured, 15 seriously, when four bogies of the Karwar-Mumbai holiday special train derailed, following a landslide on tracks between Vaibhavwadi and Rajapur stations in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra late yesterday.

Rescue operations were still on and the injured have been admitted to hospitals in Kankavli and Oras in Sindhudurg district after this first ever accident on Konkan railway noted for high safety standards. “Both up and down train services on the section have been suspended,” railway authorities told the PTI.

The cause of the derailment was landslide on tracks due to heavy and continuous rainfall in the area. The stranded passengers of the train, that had 14 coaches were sent by road on their onward journey.

“The accident occurred at 10.30 pm between Rajapur and Vaibhavwadi when the Mumbai-bound 904 up train from Karwar, while passing through a tunnel, hit some boulders that had rolled on to the tracks following a landslide, Konkan Railway sources said here today.

Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, visited the accident site and, later, the injured at the hospitals in Kankavali and Oras in Sindhudurg district, according to Konkan Railway sources.

Meanwhile, Konkan Railway has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 15,000 each to the next of the kin of the killed passengers, Rs 7,500 to each of the seriously injured and Rs 500 to those with minor injuries. “The seriously injured comprise 10 men, four women and one child, while seven men and three women have received minor injuries,” the sources said.

Several top officials of Konkan Railway, including its Managing Director, Mr B. Rajaram, and Director Operations, Mr K.K. Ghokle, have already reached the accident site.

The Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, has ordered an inquiry into the train accident. 
Meanwhile, the Railway Board Chairman and other members have also reached the accident site. — PTI

PM condoles deaths

Beijing, June 23
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today expressed deep grief over the loss of several lives in a train accident near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

In his condolence message from Beijing, Mr Vajpayee conveyed his heart-felt sympathies to the members of the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery for those injured. — UNI