Dibrugarh Express derailment: Special train leaves for Assam, toll rises to 4

Rescue operations at the site near Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda where eight coaches of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express train derailed have been completed.

And a special train left for Assam with 600 passengers. At least four passengers were killed and over 30 were injured after the train derailed between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations on Thursday. Soon after the derailment of the train, ambulances and medical teams were rushed to the spot even as bad weather hindered the rescue operations for a while.

The driver claimed he heard the “sound of a blast” before the derailment, news agency PTI reported while citing an official. The deceased has been identified as Saroj Kumar Singh (31), a resident of Araria in Bihar, Rahul (38) from Chandigarh, while the two are unidentified people.

A special train with 600 passengers of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express, which derailed on Thursday, has left for Assam, an official told news agency PTI. The train departed from Mankapur, Uttar Pradesh.

The Centre has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh for those who suffered grievous injuries, and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries.

In the aftermath of the derailment, the Railways Ministry has initiated a high-level probe into the incident. Chief Public Relations Officer, North Eastern Railway, Pankaj Singh, stated that the probe would verify the driver’s claims that a minor explosion occurred before the derailment. A commissioner of railway safety has also been ordered to look into the matter.

Following the derailment, the Congress on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take responsibility for the “significant lapses”. It also urged the rapid installation of the Kavach anti-collision system on all railway routes.

After the incident, passengers came out of the emergency windows and doors of the sleeper coaches. In the AC coaches, passengers broke the window panes and pulled out those injured or stuck. The passengers had to wade through knee-deep water in the fields on either side of the track to reach the nearby approach road.