Government Spokesperson Ampareen Lyngdoh has informed that no citizens from Meghalaya were injured in North East Express train mishap near the Raghunathpur station in Bihar’s Buxar district.
Twenty-three coaches of the North East Express, on the way to Kamakhya in Assam from Delhi’s Anand Vihar station, derailed around 9.53 pm on Wednesday. Four people were killed in the accident, and several were injured, officials said.
However, Lyngdoh urged people to reach out to the government if they needed assistance.
Earlier this morning, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that the government is in touch with the railways and urged citizens of the state to reach out to authorities and call helpline 18003453644.
Citizens in need of assistance are urged to contact K Thabah, Meghalaya House Guwahati – 7896167945, I Kharmon, District Transport Officer, Ri-Bhoi District – 887003923, Richie Momin – 9615208771 and Hubert Nongbri – 7005627065 for coordination and redressal of issues.
“We are in touch with railway authorities and have been monitoring the situation. Citizens of Meghalaya can reach out to State authorities for assistance,” the Chief Minister announced on X.
The Chief Minister also spoke to Union Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and said he was informed that all injured passengers are being taken to hospitals and train to ferry passengers for onward journey have started.
“Our State officials are in touch to ensure that residents from Meghalaya are being provided assistance,” he added.
Fault in railway tracks was the possible cause of derailment of all the coaches of the Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express in Bihar, sources said on Thursday citing a preliminary investigation report.
“It seems that derailment occurred due to fault in tracks,” the report, signed by six railway officials, stated.
However, other railway officials pointed out that the train was brought to a sudden halt by applying brakes when it was travelling at great speed.
The guard of the Assam-bound train, Vijay Kumar, recalled that he felt brakes had been suddenly applied which was followed by jerks.
“I was busy with my paperwork when I realised that the driver suddenly applied brakes. This was followed by a few jerks and I fainted. Later, I found myself in the adjoining fields, where villagers were sprinkling drops of water on my face,” said Kumar, who has sustained minor injuries.
Highlighting the condition of passenger coaches, the report stated that all 22 coaches and the engine derailed — two of them were fully capsized and two others turned turtle.
The probe report has estimated the cost of damage due to the accident at more than Rs 52 crore.
The loco pilot, Vipin Kumar Sinha, suffered minor injuries and his assistant sustained serious injuries in the accident.
The report also contained a statement from Sinha who said that the train passed Raghunathpur station, near which the accident occurred, at a speed of 128 km per hour, but soon after it crossed the station section, it suffered a severe jolt at the rear end with excessive vibration.
As a result of the excessive vibration and the severe jolt, the brake pipe pressure dropped suddenly and the train derailed at 9:52 pm, the preliminary report quoted the loco pilot as saying.
According to Sinha’s statement, he took charge of the train from Deen Dayal Upadhyay station at 8:27 pm when everything was fine. He said that the train reached Buxar at 9:29 pm when the assistant loco pilot again did an inspection of the engine and found everything fine.
The report also quoted a gateman and a pointsman at the Raghunathpur station as saying that they saw sparks coming from near the wheels of the train.
“As per statement from the gateman of LC (Level Crossing) Gate no 59B, train no 12506 passed the gate and just after passing 8-10 coaches, he observed sparking and heard heavy noise,” the report stated.
The report stated a breath analyser test of the loco pilot and his assistant was negative. (With PTI inputs)
