HARDA (MP):
Twenty-five people were killed and 50 others injured when two express trains passing each other derailed while crossing a railway bridge struck by flash floods in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh in the dead of night sending 17 bogies and one engine tumbling into a rain-swollen river.
The State Government had earlier given the figure of dead as 29. But later Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, at a press conference in the presence of Railway General Manager Ramesh Chandra, put the figure of deceased at 25 (11 identified and 14 unidentified).
The twin derailment that occurred at around the same time at about 1130 pm last night involved the Varanasi-bound Kamayani Express from Mumbai, which capsized first, and the Mumbai-bound Janta express originating from Patna that was coming from the opposite direction.
Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Bhopal, Alok Kumar said, “We have found 11 bodies in Janata Express and one in Kamayani Express. About others we are not sure — whether they were from nearby villages and victims of the flash flood (or railway passengers).
The Railway will revise the figure once all the bodies are identified, he added. “If their relatives identified them and if it was found that they belong to villages near the site then it would be construed that they are not passengers. Otherwise we will count them as victims of mishap,” he said.
The Railway Ministry has ordered an inquiry into the twin derailment and announced an enhanced ex-gratia of Rs two lakh each to the next of the kin of deceased.
Officials said over 250 passengers have been rescued.
There were conflicting versions on the exact number of casualties in the accident that occurred between Khirkiya and Bhirangi stations on Khandwa-Itarsi sections, 160 km from Bhopal after the 500-metre rail tracks over a small bridge sank in sudden surge of water caused by heavy rains in the area. (AGENCIES)
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