Seemanchal Express Derailment: Passengers Were Thrown Off Their Berths Violently, Recalls Survivor
Passengers of the Delhi-bound Seemanchal Express heard a loud bang before they were thrown off their berths violently.
Vaishali, February 3: Officials carrying out rescue operations following the derailment of Seemanchal Express in Bihar's Vaishali district had to break the hardened glass of the AC coaches and cut through the iron grills of the sleeper coaches to save trapped passengers as some of the derailed coaches overturned completely. Passengers of the Delhi-bound 12487 Jogbani-Anand Vihar Terminal Seemanchal Express heard a loud bang before they were thrown off their berths violently.
"I heard a loud bang and fell on the floor of the coach. It was very dark, I couldn't see anything, felt broken glass everywhere," a passenger who survived the train accident told NDTV. "I lifted my father on my shoulders and made him crawl out of the broken window," he added. One general coach, one AC coach B3, three sleeper coaches -S8, S9, S10 and four more coaches of Seemanchal Express derailed early hours of Sunday.
According to officials, coaches of Seemanchal Express separated from the engine before they derailed. Three of the coaches capsized completely. A total of 11 bogies of the Delhi-bound train were affected by the accident. “Seven people have lost their lives in Seemanchal Express derailment,” LC Trivedi, East Central Railway (ECR) General Manager, told news agency ANI. Seemanchal Express, which runs from Bihar's Jogbani to Delhi, jumped from the tracks near Shades Bujurg railway station in Vaishali.
As many as 24 persons have been injured in the accident, Superintendent of Police Manavjit Singh Dhillon said. The injured were rushed to a hospital here, where the doctors referred the seriously wounded to Muzaffarpur and Patna. “As of now, it is not clear whether the derailment of the 12487 Jogbani-Anand Vihar Seemanchal Express was caused by a human error or a technical fault. This would be investigated once the rescue operations were complete and the affected Barauni-Bachhwara-Hajipur single line was cleared,” he added.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed deep condolences over the deaths. The Railways have issued helpline numbers – Sonpur 06158221645, Hajipur 06224272230 and Barauni 06279232222.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 03, 2019 09:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).