Two dead, eight injured in Jharkand train accident

Two people were killed and eight injured after 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed when its engine had a “side collision” with a goods train that went off the tracks before the accident in Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a series of railway disasters across the country in recent months that prompted authorities to scramble rescue teams to the spot and the Opposition to target the Centre for alleged lack of accountability.

Officials said a detailed probe into the railway tragedy in the eastern state was underway but a preliminary probe suggested that by the time a message could be sent out regarding the derailment of the good trains near Barabamboo, around 80km from Jamshedpur, under Chakradharpur division, the Mumbai-bound train entered the section and hit the displaced coaches of the former on the adjacent tracks.

While the passenger train collided at around 3.40am, according to officials, the time at which the goods train went off the tracks could not be immediately ascertained.

Efforts are underway to ascertain why there was a lag on information about the derailment of the goods train reaching the passenger train. Officials will also investigate how the goods train went off the tracks.

According to South Eastern Railway (SER) general manager Anil Kumar Mishra, the accident involving the passenger train took place around 3.40am. “The Howrah-Mumbai Mail had crossed Rajkharsawan at around 3.34am. A goods train had already derailed between Rajkharsawan and Barabambo stations. The gangmen should have informed the station about it,” Mishra said.

SER chief public relations officer Om Prakash Charan said the Howrah-Mumbai Mail had a “side collision with the derailed wagons, which resulted in the derailment of 18 coaches of the passenger train, including the pantry and power car.” “It is not clear as of now if both the derailments happened within minutes,” he said.

A railway official, who did not wish to be identified, said by the time the manager of the goods train informed the station master to send out an alert about the derailment, “the passenger train entered the section and hit the derailed coaches lying on the adjacent track”.

The official also said that the Mumbai-bound train was running at a speed of 90-100 kmph at the time of the accident.

Seraikela-Kharsawan deputy development commissioner Prabhat Kumar Badiyar said two passengers died and their bodies were recovered from the toilets of a coach. The injured were rushed to Chakradharpur Railway Hospital for treatment, he said.

In a statement, SER said a special bus service was put in place for transportation of the remaining passengers to Chakradharpur station.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced an ex-Gratia of ₹10 lakh each to the family of the deceased, ₹5 lakhs for those grievously injured and ₹1 lakh for those who sustained minor injuries.

Chief minister Hemant Soren announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 to each of the injured.

The accident led to the cancellation of several trains, such as the Kharagpur-Dhanbad Express, Howrah-Barbil Express, Asansol-Tata Express, Ispat Express, Kharagpur-Jhargram-Dhanbad Express, Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express, and Shalimar-LTT Express. The Howrah-CSMT Duranto Express, Howrah-Pune Express, and Puri-Rishikesh Express were among those diverted.

It also triggered a political row as the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in the state said the “entire responsibility for this lies with the railway minister and the central government”.

“Hemant Soren Ji or INDIA Bloc has no hand in this. Do not give threats to get us trapped by ED/CBI,” the party said on X, as it took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre.

The party also said that Vaishnaw should “stop making reels” and focus on his job instead. “Stop the Railway Minister from making reels and request him to focus on railways,” it said.

Opposition parties have been accusing the railway minister of being “busy making reels for social media platforms and not concentrating on passenger safety”.

The Congress also took a swipe at Vaishnaw, saying since June, the “Fail Minister” has “overseen three accidents” that have cumulatively cost 17 lives but there is “no accountability” by the Centre.

“Yet another railway accident. But the PR machine of the Fail Minister continues. In June and July 2024 alone, the Fail Minister has overseen three accidents that have cumulatively cost 17 Indians their lives and left 100s injured,” Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

On July 18, three people died and over 70 injured after 21 coaches of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed in Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. On June 15, 15 were killed and dozens injured after a freight train rammed into a stationary Kolkata-bound Kanchanjunga Express passenger train in Bengal.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also hit out at the Centre over the “disastrous” accident in Jharkhand. “I seriously ask: Is this governance? This series of nightmares almost every week, this unending procession of deaths and injuries on railway tracks: for how long shall we tolerate this? Will there be no end to the callousness of the Government of India?!” she said on X.

BJP state president Babulal Marandi, however, dismissed the Opposition’s claims, saying: “The central government is doing everything to provide relief measures. This is not the time to do cheap politics.”

In his post-Budget remarks last week, Vaishnaw said the focus of the ministry will be enhancing safety. He said a record ₹1,08,795 crore of the total ₹2,62,200 crore outlay will be dedicated to safety measures. He also said that the installation of the Kavach system was on the top of the priority list of the Union government.