At least 37 people were crushed to death under the wheels of the Saharsa-Patna Rajya Rani Express near Dhamara Ghat station in Khagaria district of Bihar on Monday.
The toll may rise as several of the injured, who are undergoing treatment at various Government hospitals, are critical. Of those killed in the mishap, 24 are women; nine are men while four are children.
Several people bled to death as they could not be taken to hospital in time because the nearest road to the small station is about 10 kms away.
Sources said the mishap took place at 8.40 am when Rajya Rani Express ploughed into a group of devotees crossing the tracks to reach the nearby Katyayani temple for special prayers, as Monday was the last day of Shravan.
The Rajya Rani Express, which does not have a scheduled stop at Dhamara Ghat railway station, was moving at the speed of nearly 80 km per hour, when the mishap occurred.
Though Railway officials put the death toll at 28 and the number of injured at six, Additional Director-General of Police (law & Order) SK Bhardwaj has confirmed that 37 people were killed in the incident.
He also said that around 40-50 people were being treated at various nearby hospitals including those of Saharsa and Mansi. He said that 15 compartments of Rajya Rani Express and six compartments of the Samastipur-Saharsa Express were torched by the irate mob.
The mob also took some Railway employees hostages after the incident. The driver and co-driver of Rajya Rani Express were severely beaten by the local residents after the mishap.
The driver of Rajya Rani Express, Rajaram Paswan, saved his life by pleading before the crowd and explaining to them that he was not in a position to do anything as people werecrossing the tracks.
He said that a more serious train accident would have taken place had he applied emergency brakes at the turning, which would have derailed the train, leading to more deaths.The driver and co-driver are safe now and are being treated for their injuries.
Meanwhile, the Chief Public Relations Officer of East Central Railway, Amitabh Prabhakar, told The Pioneer that 28 devotees were killed in the mishap, and six were injured in the incident. Civil and police authorities could not reach the spot several hours after the incident. Though medical relief vans were rushed from Barauni and Saharsa, they reached the site late and several lives were lost during the intervening period.
While the medical van from Saharsa reached the site at around 3 pm, the relief van from Barauni kept waiting at Mansi station for clearance from district authorities. Another relief van coming from Saharsa was halted at Koparia station for the same reason.
No ambulance or police rescue team could reach the mishap site directly as several places leading to the site were submerged under flood waters and the nearest motorable road was ten kms away.
Even as debate begins whether the State Government was responsible for the mishap or the Railways, State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asked reporters in Patna whether Railway operations are the responsibility of the State Government. Describing the mishap as the rarest of rare incidents, Nitish Kumar who was Railway Minister during the NDA regime said an enquiry into the mishap should be conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. He also appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony after the mishap. The State Government has announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.
Expressing deep sorrow over the deaths Kumar said he had held discussions with Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, requesting him to announce the maximum possible compensation for families of the deceased.
Since the Railway personnel accompanying Rajya Rani Express were mercilessly beaten up by the mob, Railway authorities were apparently reluctant to visit the site, infuriating the people further. Bodies were lying around railway tracks for several hours as Railway authorities had not arrived at the site for completing formalities before handing them over to the families.
later, a team of doctors from Saharasa conducted autopsies on the spot. Khagaria’s District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police also faced the wrath of villagers when they reached the spot.
The station was vandalised and damaged after the incident and several Railway personnel ran away and left the station completely unmanned. Train services were suspended on the route.
Several trains like 15209 Saharsa-Amritsar Janseva Express, 15275 Saharsa-Barauni Express, 12568 Patna-Saharsa Rajya Rani Express and 15282 Patna-Saharsa Kosi Express were cancelled following the mishap. lambasting the State Government for delay in providing medical relief, former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the injured could have been airlifted to some nearby hospitals with the help of helicopters but the Government considers that its duty is over by announcing ex-gratia payment for the affected families. He said the Railways’ insensitivity was also exposed when it did little to provide immediate medical support to the injured.
Demanding a high-level probe into the incident, Modi said that it should be also probed whether the State Government and the local administration had prior information about the huge congregation of people at the Katyani Temple. Modi asked: “What steps were taken to control the crowd if they had prior information about itIJ” lJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan told newspersons in Patna that the train mishap took place due to the State Government’s failure, reflecting how it has failed to protect the lives of poor people. He said that Nitish Kumar should resign on moral grounds.