JOIN USThe engine and three bogies including an air-conditioned compartment of the Mysore-Chennai Kaveri Express derailed near Mallanaur before Jolarpettai junction in the section bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Monday, but there were no casualties, Railway sources said.
Some boulders had come rolling down from a nearby hill, apparently triggered by the pouring rains, when the train was passing that spot, leading to the derailment of the engine and three bogies around 2.30 am, the sources said.
The engine was slightly damaged after being hit by a falling boulder, but the bogies were almost in tact and there were no casualties, a senior railway official said, dismissing reports in local Tamil media that 20 passengers suffered ‘minor injuries’ in the mishap.
The train came to a halt and restoration work on the track was quickly taken up. While some of the passengers from the derailed bogies later traveled to Chennai in another train that stopped in the vicinity, the affected track was restored around 7.30 am restoring services, sources said.
Subsequently, the Kaveri Express reached Chennai over seven hours late on Monday afternoon.