PATNA/NEW DELHI, 6 November — Three people were killed and 25 injured when two train collided in the eastern state of Bihar yesterday morning.
Officials said the Gwalior-Barauni Express collided with the stationary Janseva Express near Chhapra town, about 75 km from Patna, at about 8.30 a.m. “The trains collided about 12 km from Chhapra,” Divisional Inspector General of Railways S.K. Singh said.
Railway officials said the Janseva Express coming from Amritsar in Punjab was standing between the Kopa and Tekaniwas stations when the Barauni-bound Gwalior-Barauni Express crashed into it. “Due to some technical error, the Gwalior-Barauni Express was allowed to run on the same track on which the Janseva Express was standing,” an official said.
In New Delhi, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said authorities would take action against any erring officials found responsible for the accident.
“We have to see whether it was caused by engine failure, or signal failure or the fault of the driver,” Nitish told reporters. “In any case, something like this should not have happened and we will take action against anyone found guilty.”
Kudan Krishnan, the Chhapra district superintendent of police, confirmed the deaths but said that it was a minor accident. He said all the injured, including about half a dozen critically wounded, had been admitted to the government-run Chhapra district hospital.
Railway officials said a rescue train from Sonepur had rushed to the accident site to expedite relief and rescue operations. They said it is too early to conclude whether the accident took place because of a technical fault or human error.
Yesterday’s accident came even before Bihar recovered from a major rail tragedy in September, when the Rajdhani Express derailed near Rafiganj, killing about 130 people and injuring 200. The Rajdhani had jumped tracks on an aging British-built bridge, sending 16 of its 18 coaches tumbling.
Meanwhile, seven railway employees were killed when they were run over by a train in Andhra Pradesh yesterday.
Two other employees were seriously injured in the accident, which occurred around 4:00 p.m. when the workers, known in railway parlance as gang men, were performing routine track maintenance duties. The accident occurred at Korulupalem village near Visakhapatnam, 650 km from here.
Reports received here said the workers were killed when the Visakhapatnam-Raigadha train hit them as they tried to avoid another train on the adjacent track.
