BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: Ten people were killed and 72 suffered injuries when a passenger train rammed into a stationary train near Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu, derailing five coaches on Tuesday night. This is the third major rail mishap in a span of two months.
Rescue operations are over and work is on to restore the rail track. However, bad weather is slowing down the process.
The accident took place at about 9.30 last evening, when the Chennai Beach-Vellore local rammed into the Arakkonam-Katpadi train – which was stationary at that time. A compensation of Rs 5 lakh for families of the dead and Rs 1 lakh for the injured has been announced. Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi will be reaching the site later on Wednesday morning.
“Initial reports suggest that the driver may have jumped the signal, but this is not confirmed yet. Our officials have reached the site. Compensation of RS 5 lakh will be given to victims’ families and Rs 1 lakh to the injured. The state chief secretary is looking into it. We will confirm the casualty figures only after looking into detailed probe reports,” said Trivedi, ‘Track to be ready in 14 hours.’
“Most probably the driver has not adhered to the signal and he has come and crashed into the rear of this train,” said John Thomas, ADRM, Chennai Division.
The accident disrupted rail traffic on the busy Chennai-Katpadi sector with two trains being cancelled and some others diverted.
Chennai Helpline numbers:
044 – 25357398
044 – 25347771
044 – 25355793
044 – 25353938
044 – 25352639
044 – 25352629
