At least 19 passengers were killed and 152 others injured when an engine and four coaches of the Diva-Sawantwadi Express derailed near Nagothane in Raigad district of coastal Konkan region on Sunday. The mishap occurred around 9.40 am between the Nagothane and Roha stations just outside Bhisekhind tunnel, 136 km from Mumbai.
Quoting the doctors at hospitals at Roha and Nagothane where the injured passengers are undergoing treatment, a senior Konkan Railway official said in the evening: “The doctors have confirmed 18 deaths. Of the 152 passengers who are being treated in hospitals at Roha and Nagothane, the condition of one passenger is critical. The toll in the mishap may go up further.” Following the mishap, several trains operating on both the Central and Konkan Railways have either been cancelled or diverted.
The exact cause of the mishap has not been established yet. Rescue teams rushed to the mishap site within an hour of the incident. By evening, all the bodies trapped inside the derailed compartments of the train had been extricated, while the injured passengers were rushed to nearby hospitals at Roha and Nagothane.
Talking to the media, Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar said that Commissioner of Railway Safety Chetan Bakshi would conduct an enquiry into the mishap. “The rescue work commenced within an hour’s time and the primary objective was to rescue people trapped in the coaches of the derailed train. We have ordered an investigation into the incident,” Kumar said.
Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to those killed in the accident, Rs 50,000 each to the grievously hurt and Rs10,000 each to passengers who suffered minor injuries.Maharashtra’s Home Minister RR Patil, who rushed to the mishap, said that eighteen lives had been lost in the mishap and all the possible medical help was being extended to the injured. “The Railway officials have told me that the cause of the accident was being probed. The affected railway line will remain shut for another 24 hours,” Patil said.
The track clearance operations on the affected railway line were underway till late on Sunday evening. Earlier in the day, the Konkan Railway made arrangements for special buses to ferry thousands of stranded passengers, mostly those who are bound to and from Goa and Kerala for a summer vacation, to reach various destinations.
“For the convenience of passengers, Konkan Railway has arranged ST buses from Konkan region to be diverted via various Konkan Railway stations on the way to Mumbai. Those passengers who have a valid train ticket for the cancelled/diverted/short terminated trains, can travel by these buses towards Mumbai. Valid tickets will be the authority to travel. Passengers are not required to pay anything for the bus journey,” a Konkan Railway spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, massive traffic jams were reported at various points on the usually-busy Mumbai-Goa highway following the derailment. Though they survived the mishap without any injuries, several of the injured passengers on board the mishap-hit train had a harrowing experience after the four coaches derailed.
Chandrika Sawant, a passenger from Panvel, said: “I heard screams for help as my bogie (second from the engine) turned turtle with a loud thump over the luggage coach at 9.40 am between the Nagothane and Roha stations. First came a loud deafening sound and within moments our bogie turned upside down with people screaming and holding to the seats, window bars for their dear lives.”
Fifty-three-year-old Sawant, who was heading to Chiplun, sustained minor injuries on her hand and back, as she jumped out of the train as her compartment turned turtle, 200 metres from the uprooted rail tracks leading to the Bhisekhind tunnel. “There was utter chaos. People were screaming for help. There was panic all around. I dragged myself towards the nearest door and jumped out of the train,” Sawant said. She was treated for minor injuries and discharged from the Roha civil hospital later in the day.