At least four passengers were killed and 31 others injured after eight coaches of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed near Uttar Pradesh's Gonda on Thursday.
Emergency services including ambulances and medical teams were rushed to the spot of the accident between the Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations as soon as information about the derailment was received.
The deceased persons were identified as 31-year-old Saroj Kumar Singh -- a resident of Bihar's Araria -- 38-year-old Rahul from Chandigarh and the third person remained unidentified, a list released by the UP Relief Commissioner's office late last night read.
GONDA TRAIN ACCIDENT | TOP UPDATES
DEATH TOLL AT 4
The death toll in the derailment accident of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda stood at four, while that of injured persons at 31, officials said.
Initially, a confusion was there over the death toll as UP deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak had told news agency PTI that four people had been killed, with district magistrate Neha Sharma also giving the same number.
However, five hours after the accident, authorities revised the figures and Sharma said that there was one death. "Prima facie, when teams reached the spot people were laying scattered there in bad shape due to which confusion prevailed," she said.
UP Relief Commissioner GS Naveen said that later one other passenger died while being taken for treatment to Lucknow and further later, another unidentified person died.
District Magistrate of Gonda, Neha Sharma, said, "So far, four passengers have died and 31 are injured. Of the injured, the condition of around half a dozen is critical."
As per the latest figures, six persons sustained critical injuries while 26 others sustained minor injuries.
'SOUND OF BLAST'
The Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations, about 150 km from Lucknow, at around 2:35 pm in the Gonda district.
"Train number 15904 Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express that left Wednesday night from Chandigarh derailed near Gonda Junction station between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations at around 2.37 pm on Thursday under the jurisdiction of North Eastern Railway (NER)," Sabyasachi De, a spokesperson said.
The local pilot had heard the "sound of blast" before the derailment, an official told the media without elaborating any further.
RELIEF & RESTORATION WORKS
As soon as the accident took place, a 40-member medical team and 15 ambulances reached the spot and more of them were being sent, said Relief Commissioner Kumar at the time of initial relief operations.
Though inclement weather had affected the task of getting people out of the coaches, the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) managed to complete the task.
An official said that about 800 railway employees have been engaged in repair work since Friday morning, adding that General Manager of Northeast Railway -- Saumya Mathur -- is also present at the spot and monitoring the situation.
Divisional Railway Manager, Aditya Kumar, had told news agency ANI that "one by one, we are removing the coaches, we trying to finish this as soon as possible. We have all the equipment required."
The damaged coaches have been separated using a gas cutter while the work of straightening and removing the overturned coaches using JCB and crane was underway, officials said.
Efforts are also being made to to lay the rail track that was completely uprooted in the accident, they said.
PROBE INTO ACCIDENT, EX-GRATIA
Union Minister and local MP Kirti Vardhan Singh had visited the spot of the derailment and told the people that a special train had left from Gorakhpur to take the passengers to their destination.
Gonda District Magistrate Neha Sharma said she was present at Mankapur Junction when a special train with 600 passengers of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express left for Assam on Thursday night, hours after the accident, an official statement read.
Additionally, he said that a railway's technical team will probe the cause of the accident. The Ministry of Railways also said that a high-level inquiry has been ordered apart from the probe by the Commission of Railway Safety.
The ministry also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the kins of each of the deceased. While those with critical injuries will receive Rs 2.5 lakh each, those with minor injuries will get Rs 50,000 each.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also promptly taken cognisance of the matter and had directed authorities to swiftly engage and relief works, asking local administration to ensure proper medical treatment for the injured.
Several helpline numbers were also released by the authorities, including 8957400965 (Gonda) and 8957409292 (Lucknow) and 9957555960 (Dibrugarh).
