Train mows down 37 Bihar pilgrims
At least 37 people, mostly pilgrims, including 13 women and four children, were killed and 30 others seriously injured when they were run over by a speeding Rajya Rani Express train on Monday morning at Dhamara Ghat station of Bihar’s Khagaria district. The incident triggered angry protests by locals who attacked the train driver and set several coaches of the train ablaze.
The ‘kanwarias’ or devotees of Lord Shiva were walking along the tracks at Dhamara Ghat station after alighting from the Samastipur-Saharsa passenger when the Saharsa-Patna Rajya Rani Express moving at 80 kmph, ran over them, a senior railway official said. Khagaria is about 160 km from Patna. The pilgrims were forced to use the tracks to reach a nearby temple in the absence of a railway foot overbridge or motorable roads — the nearest motorable road is 6 km away. However, the Railways tried to shift the blame on the pilgrims. Acting Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar said the express train was not supposed to halt at Dhamara Ghat and was given clearance to pass through, but the pilgrims thought they could stop the train.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said it was a matter of investigation whether a speed restriction was ordered considering it was the last Monday of the month of Shravan and a large crowd of pilgrims was expected. He announced a compensation of `2 lakh for the family of each of the deceased and free medical treatment for the injured. Railways announced ex-gratia of `5 lakh for the next of kin of those killed and `1 lakh for the injured.
Giving details of the accident, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge told Parliament that the driver of the Rajya Rani Express had applied emergency brakes on seeing several people standing on the tracks. But by the time the train came to a halt, it ran over several of them. Kharge said, “At 8.33 am train no 55533 Madhepura-Samastipur passenger and at 8.48 am train no 55566 Samastipur-Madhepura passenger reached Dhamara Ghat railway station. Both these trains were stopped to give precedence to train no 12567 Rajya Rani Express.
“Some passengers got down from the trains on to the non-platform side. Meanwhile, at about 8.50 am, Rajya Rani Express was passing through Dhamara Ghat station. The loco pilot after passing the home signal, which was on a curve, saw some persons standing on the track and applied the emergency brakes. However, by the time the train stopped, some persons were run over,” the Railway Minister said.
“After the incident, a mob got agitated and burnt a few coaches of the Rajya Rani Express. A medical relief train left from Barauni at 9.55 am for the site. DRM of Samastipur along with his team of doctors and officers started from Samastipur at 10.50 am and reached the site,” Kharge said in the statement.
What made authorities’ task difficult was inaccessibility of the accident site. Sources said it took five hours for police and administrative officers to reach there. Finally, relief operations began and arrangements for autopsy of the bodies was made in State hospitals.