Four people died and 60 were injured after six compartments of the Kamakhya Junction-bound 12506 Northeast Express derailed near Raghunathpur railway station in Bihar’s Buxar district.
The Buxar DM confirmed the casualties.
All three leading hospitals of Patna – Patna Medical College and Hospital, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital and Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences – have been put on alert to deal with the emergency situation, and over a dozen ambulances have been sent to the spot from the state capital.
Buxar Police said the incident took place around 9.50 pm after when the 12506 Northeast Express, from Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi to Kamakhya Junction in Guwahati, had left Buxar station and was near Raghunathpur railway station, about 40 km from Buxar and 160 km from Patna. Six compartments of the train derailed, causing injuries to several passengers.
A railway official said the rescue operations were underway but the darkness was adding to the difficulty. Visuals of the accident showed some passengers being rescued with the help of stairs. Bihar Deputy CM and health minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said: :’We have spoken to disaster management and health departments and Buxar administration to intensify rescue operations. We have readied Patna hospitals to treat the injured.’
In a post online, Union Minister and Buxar MP Ashwini Kr Choubey said, ‘I have come to know that 3 coaches have derailed. I have also spoken to DG NDRF, Chief Secretary, DM, DG and GM Railways. I have appealed to our workers and they are engaged in rescue operations. Medical teams have been sent.’
The incident comes a little over four months after the triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore, which claimed 296 lives. That accident took place near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district when the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary freight train, and some of its derailed coaches were hit minutes later by the Yeshvantpur Express on its way to Howrah.
