BHUBANESWAR: On a day Railway Minister Lalu Yadav was patting himself for bringing down accident rates across the country, Chennai-bound Coromandel Express derailed killing at least 15 passengers and injuring more than 200. The mishap took place at 7:40 p.m. at Jajpur road, about 100 km from here, when the train was moving at 109 kmh speed. The toll is likely to go up as rescue teams with gas-cutters were trying to pull out passengers trapped in the mangled coaches. As many as 14 coaches jumped tracks, four of which piled on one another. The mishap site is barely 200 metres from the Jajpur Road railway station.
Going by eyewitnesses, hundreds were still trapped inside the bogies. More than 200 passengers were rescued by locals and rushed to nearby hospitals. The Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and gas-cutter teams rushed to the spot while the injured are being shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.
Train movement along both the lines of Howrah-Chennai route has come to a grinding halt. East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said, the train engine went off the tracks first pulling the bogies attached to it. The first four compartments suffered the maximum damage after piling on one another.
Two general compartments attached to the guardroom were badly mangled.
The mishap occurred as soon as the Howrah-Chennai Superfast Express crossed the Jajpur Road railway station at full speed since it does not have a stoppage there. The reason behind derailment is yet to be ascertained. Driver M Jani apparently spotted fire behind the engine and applied brakes when the train jumped tracks. The train had 22 coaches. The engine was followed by a guard and luggage compartment, two general coaches and 11 second class sleeper class bogies. The pantry car, AC coaches and two more general coaches, at the rear, escaped damage.
With rescue teams from Railways on their way to the spot, the locals used their logistics to provide medical treatment to the affected passengers.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the situation. Minister of State for Railways R Velu and Chairman Railway Board SS Khurana are expected to reach the State on Saturday. General Manager, ECoR AK Goyal along with senior officials of the zone are camping at the spot.
The ECoR started three helplines for the anxious kin and relatives of the passenger.
Th e numbers are 0 6 7 4 - 2 3 0 3 7 2 8 / 2303714/2534694.
