Twenty-seven passengers were injured, three of them seriously, when eight coaches of the Mumbai-bound Punjab Mail derailed near Rohtak in Haryana on Sunday morning
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The injured were admitted to PGI Hospital in Rohtak.
At least 39 train services were affected by the accident.
The 12138 Ferozpur-Mumbai Punjab Mail derailed between the Sampla-Kharawar station of the Rohtak-New Delhi section. The accident occurred around 4 am, about 70 km away from Delhi. A portion of the railway track has been twisted. The railways has started the initial inquiry into the accident.
“Preliminary information indicates that the derailment has been caused prima facie because of ‘rail fracture.’ Commissioner Railway Safety, Northern Circle, R K Kardam will hold a statutory enquiry into the accident,” said the Northern Railways.
A team of senior railway officials headed by Additional General Manager B P Gupta and DRM Delhi Ashwani Lohani along with a medical team and Accident Relief Train rushed to the site of derailment and supervised the relief and rescue operation.
The unaffected portion of the train along with its passengers left the accident site at 6 am and arrived here by 8 am. Later, it left for Mumbai.
Railway Minister Mukul Roy monitored the situation and spoke to Railway Board Chairman, the hospital authorities in PGI, Rohtak, and DRM, Delhi.