Agartala/Kolkata: At least five persons died and over 30 other passengers sustained severe injuries after the Agartala-Sealdah Kanchanjungha Express met with an accident on Monday morning in North Bengal. Darjeeling MP said a probe will begin as to how both trains landed on the same track.
According to report, Kanchanjunga Express was travelling from Agartala to Sealdah in Kolkata when a goods train hit it from behind near Rangapani station, close to New Jalpaiguri.
The collision happened soon after the Kanchanjunga Express started its journey from the New Jalpaiguri Station to Sealdah. It occurred some 11 km south of the New Jalpaiguri (NJP) junction around 8.30 am, a senior police official said.
Among the dead is the pilot of the goods train who died after being sandwiched in the impact, he said.
The officer said three bogies of the passenger train jumped the rails and stuck above the engine of the goods train.
He said all the injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals and added their injuries were not so serious. He lauded the local people for helping the evacuation of the affected passengers.
The accident happened when the goods train on the same track hit the parked passenger train at Rangapani, a relatively small station.
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has expressed concern and directed the railway officials to rush at the spot and start rescue operation, said Darjeeling MP Raju Bista. Vaishnaw is said to be on his way to the accident site.
The NDRF and DMG began rescue operations, the evacuation was, however, affected due to inclement weather. The rescuers were looking for any people stuck inside the mangled bogies.
Senior railway officials already reached the spot along with medical teams for evacuation of the injured and the stranded passengers. Trains movement on the section was largely affected.
Expressing grief over the accident Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha wrote, “In a tragic incident, I learned that the Agartala-Sealdah bound Kanchanjungha Express met with an accident near New Jalpaiguri. Three coaches were particularly damaged in the collision with a freight train. Rescue operations have already started. I wish the injured in this accident a speedy recovery”.
” Shocked to learn, just now, about a tragic train accident, in the Phansidewa area of Darjeeling district. While details are awaited, Kanchenjunga Express has reportedly been hit by a goods train. DM, SP, doctors, ambulances and disaster teams have been rushed to the site for rescue, recovery, medical assistance. Action on war-footing initiated,” West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said.
