Kanpur: Twelve coaches of the Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express derailed near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh early on Saturday, injuring at least 15 people.
The train was going to New Delhi when the incident occurred near Rooma railway station — about 20km from here — in Kanpur Nagar district around 12.50am.
Four out of the 12 derailed Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches had overturned, North Central Railway public relations officer Amit Malviya said.
General Manager of the North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhary said an inquiry was ordered in this connection which would be conducted by Commissioner of Railway Safety A.K. Jain.
Santosh (34), Basanti (75) and Sadhna (45) with minor injuries were provided an immediate monetary compensation of Rs5,000 (Dh265) and Sumit Kumar (35) with serious injuries was given a compensation of Rs25,000, according to a statement issued by the North Central Railway.
Chaudhary said a special train comprising 14 coaches with 900 passengers of Poorva Express left for New Delhi around 5.45am while another train of 10 coaches left around 7.50am with the remaining passengers.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to extend all possible help to those affected and ensure that proper medical treatment is provided to them.
Three critically injured people were admitted to the trauma centre of Hallet Hospital while 12 others were also given treatment, UP government officials said, adding that 52 people were given first aid.
The district magistrate, senior superintendent of police and other senior officials reached the spot and supervised the rescue operation, the officials said.
Kanpur Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Prem Prakash said the passengers of the derailed train were brought to Kanpur station by buses.
“The administration, police and the locals, who were the first responders, have done a wonderful job by rushing the victims to hospitals in a short span of time after a such a major accident,” an official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told reporters here.
