Horror on the rail track

May 23, 2012 - Akanksha Mehrotra |

Penukonda

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In one of the most horrifying rail accidents in recent times, 26 people were killed and over 45 injured, as the Hampi Express, which left Hubli at 6 pm on Monday, hit the rear portion of the stationary goods train at Penukonda Railway Station in the Dharmavaram- Bengaluru section.

The second class luggage-cum-brake van near the engine which took the impact of the collision caught fire and the flames engulfed the General Second Class coach nearby, catching sleeping passengers by surprise.

Most of the dead were charred beyond recognition in the fire that engulfed the coaches under the impact of the collision but Railway authorities said they were able to identify 18 of the 26 passengers killed.

Guntakal Railway Police said the victims were labourers from Koppal, Bellary, Raichur and Gadag districts of Karnataka. Of the 26 dead, 19 are men, and include three women and three children. The unidentified bodies were from the unreserved general compartment which saw the maximum number of casualties.

A case has been booked against the loco pilot and assistant loco pilot of the ill-fated Hampi Express after preliminary investigations by the Commissioner for Railway Safety suggest that the locomotive pilot's negligence in overlooking the signal, led to the accident. Rescue operations began within an hour and a half of the mishap, after a huge crane was rushed in from Bengaluru and mangled bogies were removed from the track and teams used cutters to free the terrified, still trapped in the coaches.

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