In the third major rail mishap in a span of two months, at least nine persons were killed and 100 others injured when a passenger train rammed into a stationary train near Arakkonam, about 75 km from here, derailing five coaches last night.
"Till now eight bodies have been identified and injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals," IG railway police Sunil Kumar, who is at the accident spot, told PTI.
The police said 15 of those injured were being brought to Chennai for treatment and pitched dark conditions coupled with heavy rains hampered the relief work.
The mishap occurred when the speeding Chennai-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) rammed into the rear of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger which was waiting for signal at the Chitheri station, at about 9.40 PM.
Teams of National Disaster Response Force were dispatched from here to quicken relief and rescue operations while senior railway officials rushed to the spot.
Rescue workers used gas cutters to help pull out the trapped passengers from the derailed bogies while two cranes were pressed into service to clear the tracks.
In Delhi, railway board chairman Vinay Mittal said 100 persons have been injured and the casualty figure could go up.
Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi announced exgratia of Rs 5 lakhs to the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 1 lakh for those grievously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who suffered simple injuries.
Trivedi, who will be leaving for the mishap site tomorrow morning, said the cause of the accident could not be ascertained immediately.
Mittal said according to preliminary report it could be a human error.
Trivedi said the signal was red when the collision took place. The driver of the EMU A Rajkumar is among the injured. His breath analysis was negative for alcohol.
The accident disrupted rail traffic on the busy Chennai-Katpadi sector with two trains being cancelled and some others diverted, officials said.
Passengers at the Chennai Central station were put to hardship as confusion prevailed over the status of trains. Southern railway have set up special help desks and helpline for information.
This is the third rail mishap since July. 70 people were killed when the Howrah-Kalka Mail derailed near Kanpur on July 10 and three weeks later some coaches of Guwahati- Bangalore Express jumped the tracks in Malda district of West Bengal and were hit by another train leaving three persons dead.