10 killed, 48 hurt in three train accidents in Uttar Pradesh (Sixth Lead)

LUCKNOW - At least 10 people were killed and 48 injured, many seriously, in three train accidents in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur, Etawah and Allahabad districts on a fog-hit Saturday morning, officials said.

All the deaths occurred in the Kanpur accident in which the Gorakhdham Express collided with the stationary Prayagraj Express near Panki railway station around 9 a.m., some 90 km from Lucknow.

Both Kanpur Deputy Inspector General B.P. Jogdand and railway officials told IANS that eight women and two men died in the horrific crash. Nineteen passengers suffered seriousinjuries and 24 others simple injuries, the officials said.

“The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Kanpur,” Jogdand added.

Five of the dead were identified as Usha Rai, Urmila Rai, Krishna Kumari, Shivanand and Kaushalya Devi.

The impact of the collision badly damaged three coaches of the Prayagraj Express, which was headed for Allahabad from New Delhi. The Gorakhdham Express was running between New Delhi and Gorakhpur.

The death toll was also confirmed by railway officials in New Delhi.

Passengers of the Prayagraj Express complained of a delay in rescue operations at the accident site. “It was after nearly 45 minutes that the rescue team of the railways arrived at the spot to carry out the relief work,” Ajai Anand, a passenger on the Prayagraj Express, told reporters in Kanpur.

Sanjeev Kesarwani, another passenger of the train, said: “While the rescue team arrived late at the accident site, a group of locals started the relief operations and even managed to safely bring out a number of passengers from the Prayagraj Express.”

“Several people could have been saved if the railway officials and security personnel had reached the accident time on time,” he claimed.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who was travelling to Allahabad on the Prayagraj Express, told reporters: “When the accident occurred, I experienced a massive jerk… Initially, I thought the jerk was because the train had started to move, but them my guard told me that an accident had occurred.”

In Etawah, the driver of the Lichchavi Express was critically injured when the train rammed into the Magadh Express near Sarai Bhupat railway station, some 300 km from Lucknow.

Both trains were headed for Bihar. The accident took place around 8.15 a.m.

“By gods grace, no passenger suffered major injuries as the engine of the Lichchavi Express rammed into the luggage coach of the Magadh Express,” said Aushutosh Yadav, a passenger on the Magadh Express.

“The driver has fractured both his legs. His condition is stated to be critical,” Government Railway Police (GRP) Inspector A.K. Singh told IANS on the telephone from Etawah.

Shouting anti-railways slogans, a large number of passengers in Etawah created a ruckus, following which police had to use force to disperse them.

“Security personnel had use mild force to prevent the passengers from turning unruly. No one was seriously injured in the incident,” the GRP inspector said.

The third accident, a minor one, took place in Allahabad, about 200 km from here. Four people received minor injuries when the Saryu Express collided with a railway maintenance trolley, officials said.

A high-level inquiry has been ordered into the Etawah and Kanpur accidents.

“It appears that both the accidents took place due to heavy fog. A high-level inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the exact reasons,” R.D. Vajapayee, chief public relations officer of North Central Railway, told reporters in Allahabad.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct the inquiry.

The railways have announced compensation of Rs.5 lakh for the families of the dead and Rs.1 lakh each for the critically injured. The other injured passengers would receive Rs.10,000 as compensation.

Train traffic has been badly hit all across northern India following dense fog that enveloped the region Friday-Saturday. Some trains were reduced to a crawl.