The Hindu : Front Page : 16 die as train crashes into signal cabin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2005

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16 die as train crashes into signal cabin

Lalit Shastri

Brake failure said to be cause of accident

BHOPAL: : At least 16 persons were killed and over 60 injured when the Bundelkhand Express overshot the track and crashed into a signal cabin at the Datia station, near Gwalior, on Monday morning.

The accident occurred around 9 a.m. when the train was going to Gwalior from Allahabad. The first five bogies were damaged.

Driver killed

Many of the injured were rushed to Gwalior and Jhansi. The train driver died on the spot.

Railway sources told The Hindu that the accident occurred due to a brake failure. Most passengers had disembarked at Jhansi.

P.K. Bhardwaj reports from New Delhi:

According to Railway Board Chairman J. P. Batra, the train was running at a very high speed while entering the Datia station on a loop line and could not come to a stop, where it was supposed to, and crashed into a dead-end.

There were heart-rending scenes even as locals helped to extricate the trapped. Official rescue teams arrived from the Jhansi Division. Relief workers, who put in all-out efforts to rip open the mangled bogies, found that those travelling on the road adjacent to the track also got caught under them.

Sources said the train driver was believed to have informed the authorities of brake failure.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad ordered an enquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. He said free treatment would be provided to the injured and jobs given to one dependent of each of the deceased.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed shock and grief at the accident and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.

Ex-gratia

In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 10,000 to the families of each of those killed. He told newspersons that Mr. Prasad had also announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs to the next of kin of the dead. Mr. Gaur said officials were making all-out efforts to provide relief to the victims. All possible medical help would be given free of cost.

UNI reports:

Mr. Lalu Prasad said in Patna that preliminary information showed that the train was running at 90 kmph on the loop line, on which the speed should not exceed 15 kmph.

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