16 dead, 161 hurt as Coromandel Express derails
Jajpur Road (Orissa), Feb 14: Sixteen passengers were killed and 161 injured on Friday night when 13 bogies of the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express from Howrah derailed near here in Orissa’s Jajpur district, 100 km from Bhubaneswar. Helpline No: 0674-2534019, 2534694
Darkness hampered rescue operations and several passengers of the train are believed to be trapped inside the bogies, East Central Railway CPRO JP Mishra said, adding efforts were on to pull them out. General Manager East Coast Railway Ajay Kumar Goel said that 16 passengers died and 161 others were injured as the 13 bogies of express train which was running at a high speed derailed near Jajpur Road railway station.
Darkness hampered rescue operations and several passengers of the train are believed to be trapped inside the bogies, East Central Railway CPRO JP Mishra said, adding efforts were on to pull them out. General Manager East Coast Railway Ajay Kumar Goel said that 16 passengers died and 161 others were injured as the 13 bogies of express train which was running at a high speed derailed near Jajpur Road railway station. Goel, who inspected the accident site, said that of the 13 bogies, 11 were sleeper class and two general.
The engine of the train overturned, Goel said. The cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained, he added.
The mishap, which took place at 8:00 pm, came on a day when Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in his Rail Budget highlighted the safety record of the Railways and decline in train accidents.
Prasad said a probe will be ordered into the accident.
He announced Rs 5 lakh and a job for the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured, and Rs 10,000 for those with minor injuries.
Railway officials said the death toll could go up as some of the injured were in a serious condition.
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