Chandigarh-Dibrugarh train derails, 3 dead

New Delhi, July 18

Three persons, including a passenger from Chandigarh, were killed and over 30 injured when the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed on Thursday afternoon between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh.

Railway officials said the loco pilot heard an explosion shortly before the derailment. The footage of a passenger’s interview recorded by a news agency and posted by the Indian Railways on its WhatsApp group for mediapersons showed the passenger talking about a mild explosion he heard before his coach shook violently.

UP Relief Commissioner GS Naveen Kumar confirmed the three casualties. The deceased have been identified as Rahul (36), a resident of Sector 26 in Chandigarh, and Saroj Kumar Singh (31) of Araria in Bihar. The third body is yet to be identified. Four persons were seriously injured. Three of them are being treated at the Gonda District Hospital and one in Lucknow. The railways has announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 2.5 lakh for the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries.

Besides the customary probe by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, another high-level inquiry has been ordered by the railways. There is, however, no clarity as yet on the individual or the team that will carry out the parallel probe.

The train had 24 coaches, of which eight, including some air-conditioned cars, went off-track. Visuals showed more than one coach flipped over and lying adjacent to the tracks. Following the accident, six trains were cancelled and 22 diverted.

Coming a month after the Kanchanjunga Express accident, the latest mishap attracted sharp remarks from opposition leaders directed at Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who today celebrated his 55th birthday.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Vaishnaw, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the two leaders “must take direct responsibility of the massive lapses that have plagued the Indian Railways”.

“Sad to know of yet another rail accident! What are the railway authorities doing? What is the Government of India doing?” West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee wrote on X.