Death toll climbs to 41

Kuneru: The death toll in one of the worst-ever train mishaps in the history of the East Coast Railway went up to 41. Over 100 passengers sustained injuries when the engine and eight compartments of the Jagdalpur Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed at the Kuneru railway station in Komarada mandal of Vizianagaram district on Saturday night. The mishap reportedly occurred at 11.30 pm.

The condition of seven passengers undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Rayagada, Parvathipuram and King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam was critical, said divisional railway manager Chandralekha Muherjee, who arrived in a relief van within two hours of the accident.

The train left Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh at around 4.25 pm on Saturday and it was scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar at around 6.30 am on Sunday. After crossing Rayagada in Odisha, the train derailed just before Kuneru Railway station due to damage of the railway track at the cabin station.

The train had no stop at Kuneru and the next stop was at Parvathipuram in Vizianagaram district. The train was travelling at a speed of 55 kmph although all express trains run at an average speed of 100 kmph. The top railway officials and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF teams swung into rescue and relief operations.

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu visited the accident site and also the hospital at Rayagada in Odisha where the injured passengers were undergoing treatment. He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured persons.

He said a thorough inquiry would be conducted into the accident by the Commissioner of Railway Safety and promised fool-proof measures against recurrence of such ghastly accidents in future. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh under an insurance scheme to the kin of passengers from the state who were killed in the train derailment.

This amount would be in addition to the Rs 2 lakh ex gratia announced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the Chief Minister announced on Twitter. “Stringent action would be taken against the people responsible for this gory accident,’’ the DRM said while not ruling out a possible sabotage angle.

There was heart rendering moments since the train jumped off the tracks. Bodies and injured persons were removed from mangled remains of the coaches and some were seen hanging from windows indicating the fact that they lost their lives while trying to jump out from their berths.

Family members of the victims and the local people blamed the Railway authorities for their failure to ensure proper track maintenance which allegedly led to the accident.