The toll in the Kalka Mail derailment in Fatehpur on Sunday has gone up to 68 with some more bodies still expected to be trapped under the debris.
The body of a Swedish national was among those evacuated from the mangled bogies. The Swedish national has been identified as Wick from the statement of his injured companion Oscar, who was also travelling with him. Another passenger from Sweden is among those reported missing after the mishap.
Rescue operations, meanwhile, continued through the night with Army personnel making a concerted effort to extricate the trapped passengers and their bodies from the damaged AC and other compartments. Colonel A.D.S. Dhillion, who is supervising the operation, has said that many people are still trapped under the mangled coaches. Nearly hundred Armymen have been pressed into service with medical supplies being rushed to the area.
Two bogies were taken off by a crane and efforts are on to cut them open and take out the bodies. “It is unlikely that there would be any survivors after 24 hours but we are hoping for the best,” said a senior railway official at the accident site. According to officials, sniffer dogs have been pressed into service as authorities believe some passengers could still be trapped under the heaps of mangled metal.
Fatehpur’s chief medical officer Keshav Narain Joshi said about 150 people were hospitalised with injuries ranging from amputations to fractures and multiple wounds. As many as 240 passengers were injured on Sunday noon when 13 coaches of the Kalka Mail derailed when it was nearing the Malwan railway station in Fatehpur district. Coaches toppled over two adjoining rail tracks, sealing off the busy route to Howrah. Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal old reporters that the tracks were likely to be cleared and repaired within the next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, sources in the national capital stated that the official inquiry into incident has begun. “Senior officials are on the site of the accident and overseeing the entire rescue operation,” sources added.