[1]An express train rammed into the rear of a stationary train at 90 kmph at Sainthia station in West Bengal early on Monday morning, killing at least 63 people and injuring more than a hundred. The accident comes soon after the Gyaneswari Express mishap where 148 people lost their lives.
In Monday’s accident at Sainthia station in Birbhum district, the Sealdah-bound Uttar Banga Express ploughed into the Vananchal Express (Bhagalpur-Ranchi). Two of the three coaches of the Vananchal Express that were hit in the collision were unreserved compartments while the third was the luggage cabin. The impact of the collision sent one compartment of the Vananchal Express flying onto the foot overbridge.
Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot, expressed “doubt over the reason behind the accident”. “There will be a detailed investigation. There are certain points that raise suspicion. But we will discuss that later. If anyone is found guilty, he will be severely punished. We do not have any means to compensate for the lives that are lost. But the railways will give compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to the families of the deceased persons. Seriously injured persons will get Rs 1 lakh while Rs 50,000 will be given for the treatment of the other injured persons on behalf of the railways. We will also give a job to one family member of each deceased person,” Ms Banerjee announced after reaching the spot.
[Railway Board chairman Vivek Sahai, who visited the accident site, told reporters it was unusual on the part of the drivers not to have applied the emergency brake nor to have made any attempt to stop the train, PTI reports. “This is very unusual. There was something wrong with the loco pilots,” he said. “The brakes were not applied at all, nor the emergency brakes, though the train was running at high speed. They (driver and co-driver) were not even trying to jump out and were found occupying their seats,” Mr Sahai said.]
The 3404 Down Vananchal Express had entered platform four at Sainthia station half an hour late on Monday morning.
Its regular arrival time is 1.10 am. It was minutes past 2 am when it made its move to leave the station and make space for the next train — the Uttar Banga Express that was scheduled to arrive at the same platform at 2.15 am. However, before the Vananchal Express could completely move out of the station, the Uttar Banga Express rammed into the former’s last three compartments at high speed.
“I heard a very loud thud. I rushed to platform four from where the sound of metal clashing with metal had come. First there was utter confusion. Hundreds of people were shouting at one time, all crying for help. The scene I saw next is inexplicable. A train had hit the Vananchal Express from the back. One compartment had vertically risen to the height of the overbridge and people were hanging from there,” recalled a horror-struck Sheikh Salem, a trader in green chillies who had received his consignment minutes before the collision.
Before official help could reach, local people swung into action to rescue the passengers. “I can never forget the sight of humans ripped apart and their intestines hanging out. The worst part is some of them were alive to see what had happened to them,” said local youth Tarapada Mandal, who lives very close to Sainthia station. The railway track was smeared with blood as human bodies were scattered over it.
By 3 am, locals armed with welding torches had rushed to the spot and had started the rescue operation. The injured were initially rushed to Sainthia Rural hospital in pick-up vans. It was at 3.15 am that the first rescue team, a team of officials from the Rampurhat fire emergency services, arrived.
Superintendent of police (Birbhum district) Humayun Kabir reached at 5.15 am only to face the ire of the locals who protested against the administration’s delay in starting rescue operations. At about 7 am a rescue team from the railways arrived.
Three accident relief trains (ATRs) were sent to the spot from Rampurhat, Asansol and Burdwan. Two cranes were brought from Rampurhat while rescue teams of the disaster management groups of the BSF, Indian Reserve Battalion, Air Force and Kolkata police reached the spot to expedite rescue operations. Trapped bodies were extricated from the mangled mass of metal using gas-cutters. By 9 am all the affected coaches were cleared while by 1 pm the railway track on which a part of the train had fallen was also cleared.
All the injured were shifted to Rampurhat sub-divisional hospital, Suri Sadar hospital and Bolpur sub-divisional hospital. Among the deceased are Mahendra Chandra Dey, the locomotive driver, and Nirmal Chandra Mandal, the assistant locomotive driver, of the Uttar Banga Express, and Amritangshu Mukherjee, the guard of the Vananchal Express. Questions have been raised about what led to this accident. Though the railway authorities have begun probing the incident, some obvious questions still remained unanswered. Though the Uttar Banga Express was supposed to ply at 30 kmph, why did the train pick up speed to 90 kmph? The loco-pilot of the Uttar Banga Express halted at his scheduled stop at Gadadharpur station, 7.5 km from Sainthia station, for the scheduled two minutes and chugged out of that station in time without complaining about any malfunction. What went wrong after that? The “home signal (the signal at the entrance to the platform)” was red as the Vananchal Express was yet to leave Sainthia. Then why did the loco-pilot of the Uttar Banga express move into the station?
The distance signal (1.5 km from the platform), too, had not been clear if another train was waiting at the platform. Then why did the loco pilot not stop the train right there? “Prima facie it was not a case of sabotage. But nothing can be said for sure. The railway security officer will find out whether it was human error or a technical error. An unnatural death case has been registered with the Sainthia GRP. Later the case might be taken over by other state investigative agency,” additional director-general of police (railways) Dilip Mitra told this newspaper.
A team of state ministers headed by West Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta visited the spot. “Though it is a railway accident, on humanitarian grounds the state government has decided to pay compensation of Rs 3 lakhs each to the families of the deceased persons. The medical expenses of the injured will also be borne by the state government. We are also looking into the necessary arrangements for medicines and blood,” said Mr Asim Dasgupta.
However, taking a strong stand against the chief of the Opposition party of West Bengal, who also heads the Union railway ministry, Mr Dasgupta said, “The state government wants to know the exact reason behind this accident. The guilty should be punished. This heinous act should not be repeated.” Then, without further explanation, he threw the ball in the court of Indian Railways. “Indian Railways should take stern action against whoever is behind this act,” he said.
Restoration and track repair was completed by Monday evening. A test-run was carried out by an engine later in the evening. Eastern Railway authorities claimed normal train services could soon be restored.
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