July 19, 2010

Fatal Train Accident Killed Over 70 Passengers in West Bengal, 150 Injured

As many as 70 people were killed and more than hundred others injured in yet another deadliest train accident on Early Monday.
The incident took place after the stationary Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express was hit from behind by the speeding Sealdah-bound Uttarbanga Express at Sainthia station in Birbhum district of West Bengal.




48 bodies have been pulled out of the badly mangled coaches of Vananchal Express till now. The death toll is likely to mount further as rescue operation is still underway.
Helpline Numbers


Eastern Railway has opened control rooms following the accident. The stations and their phone numbers are-

Sealdah-033-23503535,  033-23503535,  033-23503537 and 033-23503537

Malda-06436-222061, 06436-222061

Bhagalpur - 06412-4222433

Jamalpur - 063444-3101



Birbhum District Magistrate Soumitra Mohan confirmed the death of 48 passengers, which includes the driver MC Dey and assistant driver NK Mnadal of the Uttarbanga Express and the guard of the Vananchal Express A Mukherjee.




Railway minister Mamata Banerjee, Chairman of Railway Board Vivek Sahay, Railway Board Member (Electrical) Sudesh Kumar and Director General of Railway Health Service B K Ramteke, Eastern Railway General Manager V N Tripathy and other senior officials have left for Sainthia. She has ordered an inquiry into the mishap. Eastern Railway Safety Commissioner Arti Yadav will lead the probe.

Vananchal Express was running several hours behind the scheduled time of 20.54 pm and was about to leave the station when the accident occurred.


The scheduled arrival and departure of Uttarbanga Express at Sainthia was 1.38 am . It was not clearly known why the train, which was to halt at the station, arrived on a high speed.
An Eastern Railway spokesman said the Vananchal Express was standing at platform 4 when the speeding Uttarbanga Express, coming from New Coochbehar, hit it from the rear. Three rear coaches of the Vananchal Express bore the brunt of the collision and were badly mangled. Such was the impact of the collision that one of the coaches went up to the overbridge.


The authorities were using gas-cutters to cut open the coaches and bring out the dead and rescue the injured.





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