Andhra train collision: 13 dead, over 40 injured; human error suspected
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Visakhapatnam: The death toll in the train collision in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district on Sunday night has climbed to 13 with more than 40 others injured.
At least two coaches of the Visakhapatnam-Palasa passenger train derailed after it was rammed into by Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger near Kantakapalli junction in Kothavalasa mandal (block).
According to railway officials, the accident occurred at about 7 p.m. between Alamanda and Kantakapalli in the Vizianagaram-Kottavalasa railway section of Waltair division of the East Coast railway zone.
Train number 08532 Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger and 08504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger Special were the trains involved in the accident.
Overshooting of the signal by the Visakhapatnam- Rayagada passenger train led to the collision. Human error is the likely reason for the accident, officials added.
Two coaches of the Visakhapatnam-Palasa passenger train from the rear and the loco of Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger got derailed.
Local police and other officials of the district administration launched rescue and relief operations, which were made difficult due to darkness at the accident site.
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As ambulances could not reach the accident site, the rescue workers were carrying the injured persons to the ambulances. They were shifted to hospitals at Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.
Vizianagaram District Collector Naga Laxmi said 32 injured were admitted to the Government General Hospital at Vizianagaram. One person each has been admitted to Visakha NRI and Medicover hospitals.
All the injured are from Andhra Pradesh. The condition of four of them was critical while one of the critically injured was shifted to Visakhapatnam.
State Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Collector Naga Laxmi and Superintendent of Police Deepika Patil were monitoring rescue operations. Waltair Divisional Railway Manager Saurabh Prasad and other officials of East Coast Railway rushed to the accident site.
Accident relief trains and other rescue equipment have been engaged and helpline numbers have been issued.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday announced an assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of those who died in the collision between two trains in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district.
In a post on 'X', Vaishnaw said: "All injured shifted to hospitals. Ex-gratia compensation disbursement started -- Rs 10 lakh in case of death, Rs 2 lakh towards grievous and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries."
The East Coast Railway has also cancelled two trains and diverted a few others due to the train accident.
Train No. 08527 Raipur-Visakhapatnam passenger leaving Raipur on October 30 and train No. 08528 Visakhapatnam-Raipur passenger leaving Visakhapatnam on October 30 have been cancelled.
Five trains will run in a diverted route via Titlagarh-Raipur-Nagpur-Bllarsha-Vijayawada instead of the regular route Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada.
Train No. 03357 Baruni-Coimbatore Special Express which left Barauni on October 28 will run on a diverted route.
Train No. 18189 Tata-Ernakulam Express which left Tata on October 29, 11020 Bhubaneswar-CST Mumbai-Konark Express which left Bhubaneswar on October 29, 12703 Howrah-Secundrabad Falknuma Express leaving Howrah on October 29 and 12245 Howrah-SVM Bengaluru Duranto Express which left Howrah on October 29 will run on a diverted route.
With inputs from agencies
