Friday 27 / December / 2024
Kanpur: Over 50 passengers were on Wednesday injured when 15 coaches of the Ajmer-Sealdah Express derailed near Rura Railway Station in Kanpur Rural district, the second rail accident in the region in two months.
While soon after the mishap that took place at 5:30am, IG (Kanpur range) Zaki Ahmed said two of the seriously injured passengers had died, General Manager, North Central Railway Arun Saxena said the railway medical team at the spot has no information of any death.
The accident took place near Rura Railway Station, 70km from here, when the train was crossing a bridge over a dry canal in the area, North Central Railways PRO Amit Malviya said.
Chief Medical Officer, Kanpur, Ramayan Prasad said no deaths have been reported. While 42 of those injured have been admitted to a district hospital in Kanpur Rural, 12 of the seriously injured have been admitted to the Hallet Hospital here.
There were unconfirmed reports that the railway guard was among those injured. Rescue operations are over with all passengers pulled out of the derailed coaches, Malviya said, adding the cause of the accident was not immediately known.
The incident comes a month after over 150 people were killed and more than 200 injured when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express derailed in Kanpur Rural district on November 20.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said he was personally monitoring the situation and all assistance is being provided to those injured.
"We are making alternate arrangements for passengers to continue with their onward journey," he said in a series of tweets.
The railway minister said all assistance is being provided to those injured and ex-gratia will be paid to the injured passengers.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced financial assistance of Rs50,000 to those seriously injured in the mishap and Rs25,000 to those who suffered minor wounds. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured passengers, he directed officials to take adequate measures for the treatment of the injured and said there should be no laxity in this regard, an official release said here.
In view of the injuries to passengers, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Shivkant Ojha has ordered cancellation of leave of all doctors in government-run hospitals in Kanpur division. All the passengers of the train have been rescued and those who were not injured in the mishap have been sent to Kanpur railway station by buses, SP Kanpur (Rural) Prabhakar Chowdhury said 14 ambulances of the Health Department transported the injured to hospitals.
Malviya said senior railways officers have reached the spot and a probe is underway into the mishap. Due to the mishap, train traffic on the Delhi-Howrah route has been stopped and around 12 trains have been diverted.
Malviya said the Delhi-Howrah route via Kanpur has been temporarily closed and the Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Kanpur has been cancelled.
According to railways officials, work is on to remove the coaches from the track and the traffic on the Delhi-Howrah route is expected to be restored by midnight.
The Railways have issued helpline numbers for Kanpur -- 0512-2323015, 2323016, 2323018 and for Allahabad -- 0532-2408149, 2408128.
