New Delhi: Indian Railways has denied all links to the train crash inside a tunnel in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, on Tuesday night in which 60 people were injured.
Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, the chief public relations officer, Northern Railway, has been quoted by ANI as saying that the trains that collided were part of a local transportation arrangement made by the tunnel project team.
“It is clarified that during the construction of a hydro power project, tunnel construction, an event occurred due to the local trolley transportation arrangement in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. This event has nothing to do with Indian Railways. The trains mentioned in the news are not Indian Railway trains. This is a local arrangement done by the Tunnel Project team for transportation,” Upadhyay said.
The two loco trains collided at the under-construction site of the THDC Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project in Pipalkoti at Chamoli.
Gaurav Kumar, the district magistrate of Chamoli said that the trains collided around 9.30 pm, with 109 people on board. Out of them, around 60 passengers got injured in the accident. Of those injured, The 42 have been admitted to the district hospital, the DM said.
“During the time of shift-change, two loco trains operating in the tunnel collided at around 9.30 pm last night. 109 people were onboard the trains, out of whom 60 were injured, 42 people are admitted to the district hospital and 17 people are admitted to Pipalkoti’s Vivekananda Hospital,” Kumar said.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took stock of the situation and instructed officials to ensure that the injured receive proper medical care and are referred to higher medical centres if required.
“I am in constant contact with the District Magistrate of Chamoli regarding the accident that occurred at the TBM site of the under-construction THDC Vishnugad – Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project in Pipalkoti, Chamoli district. Instructions have been given to provide better medical facilities to all the injured and to refer them to higher medical centers as needed. I pray to God for the speedy recovery of all the injured workers,” CM Dhami said.
