Patna: At least four passengers were killed and 22 others wounded when Rajdhani Express, India’s premier passenger train, derailed in Bihar on Wednesday with over 500 people on board.
The train was coming from New Delhi on its way to Dibrugarh in the remote north-eastern Indian state of Assam.
The incident took place near Golden Ganj station in Saran district, some 80km north of Patna, around 2am on a day when Maoists had given a call for a shutdown to protest police’ atrocities.
Authorities said 12 of the train’s coaches veered off the rails in the incident, affecting the movement of at least 72 trains in the area.
Authorities said while 25 trains on this route were cancelled, 23 trains had their routes diverted.
The accident site presented a heart-rending scene with bodies of passengers stuck inside mangled coaches, while many wounded passengers cried for help.
Rescuers took out the bodies by cutting iron rods with gas cutters, while the wounded were admitted to the nearby government hospitals in Chapra, district headquarters town of Saran.
Soon after the accident, Federal railway minister Sadanand Gowda arrived in Patna and proceeded to the accident site to take stock of the situation. He refused to comment on the causes of the accident without visiting the site and talking to officials on the ground.
Railway authorities suspect the rebels could be involved in the incident but the state government ruled out their hands in the incident.
“Prime facie, this appears to be a case of sabotage as some 17 mini plates were found missing from the track. How can they go missing?” Rajesh Tiwari, a senior railway official, told the media in Patna on Wednesday after making an inspection at the accident. He said there could a conspiracy behind the incident which would come to light only after a thorough investigation.
However, the ruling Janata Dal (united) government in Bihar sought to play down a conspiracy angle or involvement of the Maoists while ordering an investigation into the incident.
“There is no evidence to suggest that the train derailment was the handiwork of the Maoists as no trace of explosives was found from the site,” Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi told the media on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in another incident reported from neighbouring east Champaran district, 18 bogies of a goods train were derailed in blasts believed to have been engineered by Maoist rebels.
Authorities say it could take at least 24 hours to clear the tracks and restore movement of the trains since the blasts caused heavy damage to tracks as well as bogies. No casualties, though, were reported in this incident.
