LIVE | Kanchanjunga Express accident: 9 killed, 41 injured, says Railway Ministry
The express, a daily train, was on its way to Sealdah in Kolkata from Tripura’s Agartala when the goods train hit it near Rangapani station
Seven passengers and two railway staffers were killed and 41 more injured in the Kanchanjunga Express accident in West Bengal's Darjeeling district on Monday (June 17), figures released by the Railway Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said nine people suffered grievous injuries and 32 simple or minor injuries. The "Up line" has been cleared and train operations have started, it said and added that "the 'Down line' will also be cleared shortly".
The Kanchanjunga express, going to Sealdah in West Bengal from Agartala in Tripura, was on the "Down line" and a goods train rammed into it from behind near the New Jalpaiguri station, around 600 km from Kolkata.
According to initial ground reports based on the statements of the local police, 15 people were said to have lost their lives in the accident. However, the ministry clarified that the number of deaths is nine, so far.
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- 17 Jun 2024 5:55 PM IST
#WATCH | Kanchenjunga Express train accident: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visits North Bengal Medical College in Siliguri and meets the injured.(Source: Railway CPRO) pic.twitter.com/cp1pg6tHZG
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2024 - 17 Jun 2024 5:00 PM IST
Anti-train collision system not in place on mishap route: Railway Board
The Railways’ ‘Kavach’ or anti-train collision system was not in place along the Guwahati-Delhi route, where a goods train collided with the Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express in the rear on Monday, a top official said.
Chairperson of the Railway Board Jaya Varma Sinha said that Kavach, an automatic anti-collision train protection system, is being planned for the route.
"It is not there right now," she said.
Pointing towards a possible “human error” on part of the loco pilot of the goods train who succumbed to injuries from the accident, Sinha said the collision near New Jalpaiguri may have happened because the goods train disregarded the signal and hit the Kanchanjungha Express, which was on way to Sealdah from Agartala.
- 17 Jun 2024 4:50 PM IST
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visits train accident site in Bengal's Rangapani
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the site of the train collision at Rangapani near New Jalpaiguri station in West Bengal on Monday afternoon and took stock of the situation.
Vaishnaw rode pillion on a motorbike for some distance to the accident site as the road was narrow for bigger vehicles to move.
