Two people were killed and 22 others injured when 18 coaches of the Howrah-Bombay Post Corporation derailed in Jharkhand's Selekela-Kharsawan district early on Tuesday, officials said.
Opposition parties including the Congress, JMM and Trinamool Congress criticized Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for the accident and advised him to focus on passenger safety.
The accident prompted the railways to divert or cancel about 35 trains, mostly in the South Eastern Railway zone, officials said, adding that efforts were underway to restore the three affected tracks.
Om Prakash Charan, spokesperson of South Eastern Railway, said: “At least 18 out of the 22 coaches of Howrah-Mumbai mail train No. 12810 passing through Nagpur were on SER Cha The derailment occurred near Barabamboo station in Kradhapur division.
Among them, there are 16 passenger cars, 1 power car and 1 catering car.
“Two people died and 22 were injured. Eighteen of the injured have been discharged from hospital and four are under observation,” Seraikela-Kharsawan Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat told PTI.
One coach of a goods train derailed and fell on other tracks from where the Howrah-Mumbai mail train was coming, he said, adding that the passenger train hit the coach, resulting in the derailment of 18 coaches.
West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Kuldeep Chaudhary is at the accident site and supervising the rescue efforts.
The accident occurred near the border of West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.
SER general manager Anil Kumar Mishra said it would take 18 to 20 hours to resume train movement on the tracks.
“The injured passengers received medical assistance at Balabanpur. They were taken to Chakradharpur for better treatment,” a senior SER official said.
The Railways has released an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the two passengers who died in the Howrah-Mumbai Mail. The two are P Bikash and Ajit Kumar Samal, both from Rourkela in Odisha.
The Railways also paid Rs 1 lakh each to eight persons who suffered minor injuries.
Chakradharpur, SER's senior DCM Aditya Kumar Choudhary told PTI: “A team headed by Railway Safety Commissioner will investigate the accident”.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that the government has provided relief of Rs 200,000 each to the families of the deceased in the train accident and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
Opposition parties have slammed the Centre, accusing it of neglecting train safety.
Soren claims that rail infrastructure is on the verge of collapse.
Taking a jibe at the Railways Ministry, Soren said the reality of the Ministry was before everyone in stark contrast to its lofty predictions.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also lashed out at the central government over the series of train accidents and wondered whether its callousness would never end.
Taking a dig at the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said, “How many more train accidents will it take for the NDA government to wake up?” Congress party also criticized railways after train derailment Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has lashed out, saying the “failed minister” has “overseen three accidents” since June in which 17 people were killed, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new India “takes no responsibility”.
Jharkhand Health Disaster Management Minister Banner Gupta, who rushed to the scene of the accident, told the media that the Jharkhand government was providing full cooperation to the railways.
“Such major accidents are worrying”, he said, urging the Center to “strengthen infrastructure instead of talking about bullet trains”.
Kalpana Soren, JMM legislator and wife of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, urged JMM and Group of India workers to provide water and food to the district administration besides providing water and food to the victims Help and carry out rescue operations.
Witnesses said that nearby villagers rushed to the scene of the accident and fully cooperated with the rescue work.
Due to the accident, SER canceled 11 express and passenger trains, including Howrah-Titlagarh-Kantabanji Express, Kharagpur-Jhargram-Dhanbad Express, Howrah-Barbil-Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express, Tatanagar-Itwari Express and Shalimar-LTT Express.
The other six trains were either stopped for short periods or diverted, the official said.
The South Eastern Railway has launched a helpline number for passengers.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)
