LIVE | Howrah-Mumbai Mail accident: Congress takes ‘Fail Minister’ dig at Vaishnaw
Two killed, 20 injured as 18 coaches of Howrah-Mumbai Mail derail in Jharkhand; deputy commissioner says it hit a stationary goods train and derailed
Rescue and relief work underway after the Mumbai-Howrah Mail derailed near Badabamboo in Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand early on Tuesday (July 30) | PTI
Two persons were killed and 20 injured as at least 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district early on Tuesday.
The accident occurred at 3.45 am near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under the Chakradharpur Division of the South Eastern Railway (SER), officials said.
SER spokesperson Om Prakash Charan said that there was another derailment of a goods train nearby, but it was not yet clear whether the two accidents occurred concurrently.
However, West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Kuldeep Chaudhary, who is camping at the accident site, claimed that the mail train hit the stationary goods train and derailed.
SER statement
"Two persons were killed and 20 injured as 18 coaches of Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed near Barabamboo," said Chaudhary.
The accident site is near the border between West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.
"At least 18 coaches of the 22-coach 12810 Howrah-Mumbai Mail via Nagpur derailed near Barabamboo station in SER's Chakradharpur Division at 3.45 AM," the SER spokesperson said. Of these, 16 were passenger coaches, one power car and one pantry car, he said.
Rescue operations
"The injured passengers were provided medical aid in Barabamboo. They were taken to Chakradharpur for better treatment," another senior SER official said. The rescue operation is on, he said.
The train, which left Howrah on Monday night, met with the accident early this morning, the SER official said. The train accident was reported from Potobeda in the Kharsawan block of Seraikela-Kharsawan district, said an official of the local administration.
"The Howrah-Mumbai Mail and a freight train were involved in the accident. The assessment of injured people is underway," he added.
Mamata furious
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the central government over the series of train accidents and wondered whether there will be no end to Centre’s callousness.
In a social media post, Banerjee wondered whether this is governance as the train accidents have become a regular affair.
“Another disastrous rail accident! Howrah- Mumbai mail derails in Chakradharpur division in Jharkhand today early morning, multiple deaths and huge number of injuries are the tragic consequences,” she posted on X.
“I seriously ask: is this governance? This series of nightmares almost every week, this unending procession of deaths and injuries on railway tracks: for how long shall we tolerate this? Will there be no end to the callousness of Government of India?” she added.
Read updates here.
West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Kuldeep Chaudhary, who is camping at the accident site, told news agency PTI that the Howrah-Mumbai Mail hit a stationary goods train and derailed.
The Congress on Tuesday took a swipe at Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after the train derailment in Jharkhand, saying since June the “Fail Minister” has “overseen three accidents” that have cumulatively cost 17 lives but there is “no accountability” in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “new India”.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, hitting out at Vaishnaw, said in a post on X, “Yet another railway accident. But the PR machine of the Fail Minister continues. In June and July 2024 alone, the Fail Minister has overseen three accidents that have cumulatively cost 17 Indians their lives and left 100s injured.”
Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “Train Accidents: A Weekly Reality in Modi’s New India. July 18: Train accident in Gonda, UP: Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express: 4 killed, 31 injured. July 19: Goods train derailed in Valsad, Gujarat. July 20: 12 wagons of a freight train derailed in Amroha, UP. July 21: 3 wagons of a goods train derailed in Alwar, Rajasthan. July 21: Goods train derailed in Ranaghat, West Bengal. July 26: Goods train derailed at Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Orissa. July 29: Bihar Sampark Kranti Express detached from other coaches in Samastipur, Bihar. July 30: Several coaches of the Howrah-CSMT Express train derailed in Chakradharpur, Jharkhand: 2 killed, 20 injured.”
In the usual aftermath, Vaishnaw would visit the site with his PR team by evening and will upload a reel by tomorrow, Khera said, taking a dig at the railway minister.
“In Modi’s new India, there is no accountability, no resignations, only grandiose talks about irrelevant rail projects that no one uses,” he said.