Two trains collide in Uttar Pradesh, three killed (Third Lead)

FIROZABAD - At least three people were killed and 14 injured when two trains collided near Tundla railway station in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district due to dense fog Saturday, an official said. A probe has been ordered into the accident.

The Kalindi Express and the Shram Shakti Express, both headed for Kanpur, collided at around 8 a.m. on the Delhi-Howrah rail route near Tundla railway station, around 25 km from Agra.

“We have learnt that three passengers - two women and a child - of the Shram Shakti Express have been killed in the accident,” Firozabad District Magistrate N.G. Ravi Kumar told IANS.

“Rescue operations have nearly been completed and the 14 injured are being treated at hospitals in Tundla and Agra. Most of the injured are women,” he said.

Though the exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, Kumar said that “fog appears to be one of the factors”.

Railway officials said both the trains were heading to Kanpur. While the Shram Shakti Express was coming from Delhi, Kalindi Express had left from Bhiwani.

Firozabad Senior Superintendent of police Raghuveer Lal told IANS: “The Kalindi Express dashed against the Shram Shakti Express near the Tundla railway station.”

“Two rear coaches of the Shram Shakti Express have been badly damaged following the accident. Of the 14 injured, at least seven are women,” he added.

The railway ministry has constituted a three-member committee to probe the incident under the supervision of a Commissioner of Railway Safety, officials said.

The railways has announced Rs.500,000 each as compensation to the families of those killed and Rs.100,000 each to the critically injured. The other injured would receive Rs.10,000 each, officials said.

Agra Divisional Railway Manager Devesh Mishra said the women’s coach and the guard’s cabin had been hit. Train traffic on the route was disrupted for two hours.

“It looks like the visibility was too low because of the heavy fog and the driver could not see,” Mishra told IANS.

People complained of “delayed relief operations” and said the rescue work was started by the passengers themselves.

“The railway authorities and other officials arrived more than an hour after the accident for rescue and relief operations,” Prashant Kumar, a resident of Kanpur who was travelling on the Shram Shakti Express, told reporters in Firozabad.

Said Aman Jain, another passenger of the Shram Shakti Express: “Passengers of the trains helped rescue a large number of people trapped in the last coach of the Shram Shakti Express.”

R.D. Vajapayee, chief public relations officer (CPRO) of North Central Railway, told reporters in Allahabad that the railway ministry has taken the accident “very seriously”.

Two train accidents had taken place Jan 2 in the state’s Kanpur and Etawah districts.

“If a railway accident occurs in such a short span of time, it’s really unfortunate and requires an extensive probe,” Vajapayee said referring to the two train accidents Jan 2.

On Jan 2, 11 people were killed when the Gorakhdham Express collided with the stationary Prayagraj Express in Kanpur. In a separate accident, the Lichchavi Express rammed into the Magadh Express in Etawah, but there were no casualties. Both accidents occurred in thick fog.

According to officials, the three-member committee constituted for probing the accident include Railway Board member (mechanical) Praveen Kumar, director general of railway health services V.K. Ramteke and additional member (signal and telecom) K.B. Sharma.