NEW DELHI: Two dead and 20 passengers were injured as 18 coaches of the 12810 Howara-CSMT Express derailed between Rajkharsawan and Badabambo in Jharkhand's Chakradharpur district early on Tuesday.
The accident occurred at 3:45 AM near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under the Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway (SER).
Rescue operations are on and an NDRF team is rushing to the spot," DC West Singhbhum Kuldeep Chaudhary, who is camping at the accident site, told PTI.
The accident site is near the border between West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.
The locomotive of this train was also derailed. Passengers of the derailed coaches have been shifted to a nearby station by buses.
According to an initial report shared by the railways, the derailment has resulted in movement disruption on the Howrah-Mumbai rail routes. The SER cancelled a few express and passenger trains on Tuesday, including 22861 Howrah-Titlagarh-Kantabanji Ispat Express and 12021 Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express.
Senior Railway officials have rushed to the sites and Railway Medical van and other rescue facilities. The South Eastern Railway on Tuesday opened helpline numbers after the derailment of the 18 coaches of the train.
Mumbai helpline numbers
Mumbai - 022-22694040, Dadar - 9136452387, Kalyan - 8356848078 and Thane - 9321336747.
Helpline numbers for Howrah are 9433357920 and 033-26382217, and for Shalimar are 7595074427 and 6295531471 and for Kharagpur is 03222-293764
(With inputs from PTI)