Train accident in India — 66 killed, 165 injured

Fryderyk HPH SG

The Sainthia train collision occurred on July 19, 2010, at Sainthia railway station in West Bengal, India, when the Uttar Banga Express collided with the Vananchal Express as it was leaving the platform. 66 people died as a result of the accident, and 165 people were reported injured.

The collision occurred 191 km from Howrah at 02:00 am (IST) when the Uttar Banga Express, travelling from New Cooch Behar to Sealdah, hit the Bhagalpur–Ranchi Vananchal Express which was just leaving Sainthia railway station. The impact destroyed the three rear compartments of the Vananchal Express.

Injured people were sent to hospitals in Sainthia and Suri.

Fryderyk HPH SG

Railway officials initially described how there may have been something wrong with the drivers of the Uttar Banga Express, detailing how the train had passed through a red signal at high speed, with no evidence of a brake application and with no apparent attempt by the driver or co-driver to jump clear of the train cab before the collision. Both were found dead in the wreckage, still in their seats. The possibility of the two drivers of Uttar Banga Express being drugged had triggered alarm in the railways. However, the post mortem of the drivers at the Suri hospital did not show any evidence of drugs. As a precaution, drivers and guards have been asked not to buy any food or drink at stations.

Sainthia railway station was a scheduled stop for the express, but the train is believed to have passed over a bridge 1.2 km before the accident at three times the line speed. The crew had taken charge of the train at Malda five hours before the accident, and had appeared fit and well to station staff during a previous unscheduled stop at Gadadharpur, 7 km ahead of the accident site. The signalman in-charge at the station claimed to have heard the station master trying to alert the driver of the Uttar Banga Express via walkie-talkie, but got no response.

The enquiry has found no fault with the train's brakes although, the guard, when questioned said that he had applied the emergency brake after the driver did not respond to him on the walkie-talkie, but the brake failed. Also there was no signal failure, the approach signal was red. Probable causal factors found are the drugging of the drivers and not setting a diversion route when the Vananchal Express was standing at the platform. It was too late to operate points and divert the train when the Uttar Banga Express was seen.

The driver of the Vananchal Express, said that “even though the green signal was given at 1.54am, we could start the train only at 2.01am because we had not received any signal from the guard”.

ama-teur SG

RIP to those who died.

Fryderyk HPH SG

Getting conflicting info. Will update when the situation changes.

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A train crash in eastern India has killed at least 60 people and injured another 120, officials say.

A speeding passenger express hit another train waiting at a station in the town of Sainthia, West Bengal state, early on Monday.

The impact sent the roof of a coach into a footbridge above the tracks.

Residents climbed through the mangled trains looking for survivors. It was the second major railway accident in West Bengal this year.

In May, nearly 150 people died when a Bombay-bound passenger train derailed and was hit by a goods train. Police accused Maoist rebels of sabotaging the track, but Maoists denied the charge.

The cause of the latest crash is not yet clear.

A number of trapped passengers were freed from the wreckage by emergency workers using gas cutters and other tools.

Local officials say the accident occurred at about 0200 local time on Monday (2030 GMT Sunday) when the Uttar Banga Express crashed into the stationary Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express at the station in the Birbhum district, about 200km (125 miles) north of Calcutta.

One witness described to the BBC his narrow escape.

"At the station my train was just about to pull out when I heard a big scream, 'There's going to be a crash,'" said the man.

"So I clung on to a bar by my feet. Then there was a massive bang. Most of the people in my carriage died in front of me."

Emergency officials said all the passengers trapped in the wreckage had been rescued and all the injured taken to hospitals.

Officials believe the trains were packed with commuters heading to work.

There is speculation that faulty signalling may have been the cause of the crash. A police investigation is now under way.

Accidents are common on the state-owned Indian railway, an immense network connecting every corner of the vast country.

It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day.

ama-teur SG

Rail crash map

if true, west bengal's north-south axis of rail transport is out of commission liaos