Lucknow, May 31
Five persons were killed and 35 others injured when seven coaches of Howrah-Dehradun Doon Express derailed near Jaunpur, around 250 km from here on Thursday.

"Five persons have been killed and nearly 35 injured," said Jaunpur SP, Akash Kulhari said. The accident took place at 1.20 pm after the train left Jaunpur station and was approaching Meharwan station.

While five sleeper (S4 to S8) coaches overturned, two general coaches were derailed, said eyewitnesses.

A senior railway official in Varanasi, pleading anonymity, did not rule out tampering of the railway tracks by the Bharat Bandh protestors as the cause of the accident. The intense heat expanding the iron tracks could also be a likely cause.

Most passengers were from Bengal and Bihar who were travelling to Dehradun and beyond for summer holidays.

While the villagers from the surrounding area arrived at the accident site within minutes helping the passengers to come out of the bogeys, the district police chief and DM arrived soon thereafter and started supervising relief operations.

However, the relief train equipped with medical facilities, doctors and experts took many hours to reach the accident site. Those seriously injured were rushed to various hospitals in Varanasi while those with minor injuries were being treated in the Jaunpur district hospital.

In New Delhi, Railway Minister Mukul Roy ordered a high-level inquiry into the accident. He also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who have received minor injuries. Roy said a Railway Board team has already left for the accident site to make an on-the-spot inquiry. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has expressed deep grief over the accident.

Railway Board member AP Mishra said that exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.

It could have been "due to excessive heat causing track expansion or some miscreant activity," he said, adding that the railway track could be cleared by tomorrow morning.

"Assistant Loco Pilot has informed railway officials that he had seen some obstruction in the track and he tried to apply brake. While 10 coaches passed, the last seven bogies derailed", Mishra said.

On May 22 in Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh, 25 passengers were killed, 16 of them charred, and 43 injured when the Bangalore-bound Hampi Express rammed into a stationary goods train after its driver apparently overshot the signal near the station. (With PTI inputs)