Bihar train accident: Engine taking North East Express coaches to loop line derails
Two days after the Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express derailed, a train engine taking the coaches of the superfast train to the loop line derailed at Raghunathpur station in Bihar’s Buxar district on Friday.
The engine was operating on the special line and taking the coaches of the North East Express to the loop line when it derailed.
No injuries or casualties were reported so far.
Railway officials did not comment on the incident.
On Wednesday, four people were killed and several people were injured after 23 coaches of the North East Express, on the way to Assam’s Kamakhya from Delhi’s Anand Vihar Terminal, derailed near Raghunathpur railway station around 9:53 pm.
Most of the injured are undergoing treatment in Buxar town and neighbouring Ara. A total of 25 people have been admitted to AIIMS Patna.
The Indian Railways on Thursday announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for the next of kin of the dead in the derailment and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The Bihar government also announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of the dead.
The railways ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. Initial investigation found that the derailment was possibly caused due to a fault in the tracks.
Both up and down railway tracks at the site of the derailment of the North East Express at Buxar were restored on Friday and Patna-Deen Dayal Upadhyay Express was the first train to ply on the Delhi-bound up line, a senior railway official said.
The up line was restored at 8:10 am and the train crossed the site at 10:09 am on Friday, two days after the accident, under the supervision of senior railway officials, the Eastern railway official said.
Limited movement of trains were being allowed on the two tracks under the supervision of senior railway officers, Eastern Railway chief public relations officer Birendra Kumar said.
“Normal movement of trains will be allowed on this route in a day or two … We are allowing only limited movement of trains on the up and down tracks as per the standard operating procedure,” Kumar told news agency PTI.