Thirty-five passengers were killed and over 200 others injured on Sunday when 15 bogies of the Howrah-Delhi-Kalka Mail derailed near Malwa station in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Fatehpur and Kanpur. More than 190 passengers have been admitted to the district hospital in Fatehpur alone.
Reports from the accident site said the derailment took place at around 12.30 pm Sunday when the driver of the Delhi-bound train applied the emergency brakes to save some cattle squatting on the tracks. The train was running at full speed — around 108 kmph — when the brakes were applied, hence the impact was so severe. Three bogies piled on to other bogies, while some others capsized. News agencies cited preliminary investigations indicating that the signals were working normally and the fishplates on the tracks were intact. The news agencies quoted Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal saying that the driver was not intoxicated. When asked if he suspected any mischief, Mr Mittal was quoted as saying: “I can’t comment.”
The derailed coaches included three AC coaches, five sleeper coaches, two general bogies, the pantry car, one SLR coach and the engine. The driver of the train was also seriously injured.
Units of the armed forces have joined the rescue effort in a big way, with helicopters and aircraft being pressed into service and bulldozers and cutting equipment deployed at the site. The Army also held establish medical and surgical facilities at the accident site.
News agency reports from Fatehpur said the trapped passengers screamed for help at the site, even as there were overturned compartments and luggage lying strewn across the entire area. Desperate to get out of the mangled compartments, some passengers could be seen smashing window panes as they tried to wriggle to safety. While one AC 3-tier coach had turned turtle, another coach was pushed to its top with the impact of the accident. Two other AC coaches hit each other and stood almost vertically. Some injured passengers were seen coming out of the train in a dazed state, with their clothes torn and wounds all over. A resident of Howrah said: “The train was at its maximum speed. Suddenly we heard a loud bang, and we did not know what happened after that. Some villagers pulled me and some others out of the train.”
North Central Railway general manager H.C. Joshi said: “Nearly 10 bogies are in very bad shape. The exact cause of the derailment could not be ascertained yet as we are busy with rescue operations.” He said a high-level probe had been ordered. The railways announced compensation of `5 lakhs each for the kin of the deceased and `1 lakh each for the injured passengers. The commissioner for railway safety will conduct an inquiry into the accident to ascertain its cause.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed the railway ministry, which is currently under his direct charge, to deploy all available resources in the area for rescue and relief operations. “The Prime Minister has expressed deep sorrow and shock at the loss of lives caused by the accident at Malwa station involving the Kalka Mail. He has spoken to the minister of state for railways and the Railway Board chairman, instructing that all available resources in the area be deployed for rescue and relief operations,” the PMO said in a statement. Congress president Sonia Gandhi too expressed deep anguish at the accident.
The Army has deployed two of its columns, sent medical teams and established surgical facilities near the accident site, while the Indian Air Force deployed four helicopters (two Mi-17s and two Chetaks) for casualty evacuation. The helicopters were sent from Gorakhpur and Allahabad. In addition, one IL-76 transport aircraft and two Avro aircraft of the IAF were despatched from New Delhi with personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force and several tonnes of relief and rescue material.
Officials at the accident site said the death toll could increase since people were still trapped inside the bogies. Train traffic on the Delhi-Howrah route was disrupted and major trains are being diverted through Lucknow.
Two relief trains were sent to the accident site to ferry passengers, while another medical train is being rushed there to take care of the injured.
Senior railway officials reached the site of the accident to supervise relief work, and the mangled bogies are being cut open with gas cutters to bring out those trapped inside. Rescue work was considerably hampered after sunset due to poor visibility, with two bogies yet to be cut open.
Local residents had immediately rushed to the accident site and had started rescue efforts even before railway officials and police personnel could arrive. They broke the window panes of the AC coaches and brought out passengers with the help of ladders. Some of them even used private cars and jeeps to ferry the injured to local hospitals before the ambulances reached the area.
The railways announced that two special trains would be operated to transport relatives and friends of the Howrah-Kalka Mail accident victims to the site of the mishap near Malwa station in Uttar Pradesh.
“A special train will run from Howrah to Fatehpur and another will start from Delhi for Kanpur for carrying relatives and friends of accident victims to the site,” said Ms Chandralekha Mukherjee, the Indian Railways’ executive director (information and publicity). Asked about the possible reason for the accident, Ms Mukherjee said: “It has not been ascertained yet. Commissioner railway safety P.K. Vajpayee has been asked to conduct the inquiry.”
Union minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal and UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya have also reached the accident site to assess the situation. Helpline services have also been launched in New Delhi, Allahabad, Fatehpur, Kanpur and Khurja for giving details of the relief and rescue operations.