Late Wednesday evening, a tragic accident occurred when the North-East Express passenger train derailed, leading to the deaths of four passengers and injuring several dozens more.
The train, en route to Assam state from New Delhi, had all its 21 coaches derail near the Raghunathpur railroad station in Bihar’s Buxar district. Magistrate Anshul Agarwal confirmed that two of the coaches had overturned.
Deepak Kumar, a local police officer, mentioned that nearby residents were the first to respond, assisting passengers in evacuating the derailed coaches. Medical and rescue services soon arrived at the scene. Hospitals in the vicinity were put on alert to attend to the injured.
#WATCH | Bihar: Visuals from the Raghunathpur station in Buxar, where 21 coaches of the North East Express train derailed last night
— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2023
Restoration work is underway. pic.twitter.com/xcbXyA2MyG
D.K. Pathak, a railroad official who was onboard during the incident, disclosed that a majority of the injuries were concentrated in one particular derailed coach. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of this unfortunate incident.
According to early reports, around 70 passengers were injured. Of these, 31 have been hospitalized, while the rest were discharged post medical examination.
By Thursday morning, rescue operations had concluded with all passengers accounted for. Damaged tracks were being cleared with the aid of cranes and gas cutters.
Hari Pathak, a local resident, described the moment of the accident to the Press Trust of India, recounting a sudden loud noise followed by smoke emanating from the train.
This incident follows a severe rail crash in June, which claimed the lives of over 280 passengers and injured 900. That accident was attributed to a signal system malfunction.
Historically, India has seen its share of railway mishaps, often ascribed to human error or outdated equipment. With over 12 million passengers commuting daily on 14,000 trains that run on a massive 64,000-kilometer track network, the safety of rail travel remains a paramount concern for the nation.