JOIN USAt least 100 people were injured, some seriously, when Delhi-bound Azamgarh-Delhi Kaifiyat Express train derailed near Achalda railway station on the Kanpur-Delhi section of the Northern Railway in Uttar Pradesh’s Auriaya district, about 150 kilometres from here on Wednesday.
The mishap comes barely after the derailment of Utkal Express near Khatauli.
According to railway officials here, the train, which was travelling at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour, derailed after it rammed into a dumper filled with sand at an unmanned level crossing. As many as 10 coaches of the train jumped rails following the derailment, officials said adding that the mishap occurred around 0300 hours in the morning.
The passengers were sent to Kanpur and Etawah to proceed toward their destinations by buses, the officials said. The majority of injured hailed from Azamgarh district in UP from where the train originated.
The injured were admitted to hospitals at Auraiya and Kanpur besides the nearby super speciality Saifai PG Medical College. The condition of four of the injured was stated to be critical, sources said.
Relief and rescue operations were launched immediately, railway officials said, adding that ambulances were rushed to the spot from nearby districts. Sources said that the dumper, which belonged to the company engaged in laying of tracks for a dedicated freight corridor on the section, had overturned and fallen on the tracks.