What We Know So Far On Andhra Train Crash A Near Repeat Of June 2 Odisha Rail Disaster

Bhubaneswar: Months after the horrific three-train collision in Odisha, at least 13 people died and over 50 others were injured in a near repeat of the disaster in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district last evening.

According to sources, a special passenger train going from Visakhapatnam to Palasa was on restricted speed on the main line and said to have slow down on tracks between Alamanda and Kantakapalle near Kothsavatsala because of no signal when the Vizag-Raigad passenger train rammed into it from behind. Three coaches of Visakhapatnam-Palasa passenger and the locomotive and two coaches of the Rayagada passenger were badly damaged and capsized and thrown beside the track.

Sourabh Prasad, divisional railway manager of the Waltair division, said the collision took place at roughly 7:10 pm. Videos shared on social media showed multiple mangled coaches in pitch-dark conditions. The railways has cited human error as a possible cause with the Rayagada-bound train having likely jumped the signal.

While the death count was put at 14 from nine last night, it was later revised to 13 as the severed body parts of a deceased were counted twice.

The Vizianagaram district administration also released the list of deceased, among whom 11 have been identified so far. None of them is from Odisha. Besides, 29 of those injured are still under treatment at Vizianagaram hospital, condition of 10 is stated to be critical, the East Coast Railway CPRO, Biswajit Sahu, told the media.

He added that five affected coaches have been grounded and the focus is now on restoration of tracks, which is likely to be completed by 4-5 pm.

Speaking the media, Dilip Kumar Patra, who was returning to Rayagada from Visakhapatnam, said that he was travelling with his family members in D2 coach. “Since it was Sunday, there were fewer people in the train and so, the impact was relatively less. Passengers fell off their seats following the derailment and sustained injuries after hitting the iron rods in the compartment,” he said.

Sujata Swain, a teacher travelling with her students to Rayagada from Vizag, said that there was hue and cry inside the compartment. “Help reached us in time and we were escorted to the main road with luggages,” she said.

Some passengers are also stranded at Rayagada railway station with 45 trains having been cancelled, 41 partially-cancelled and diverted and 4 rescheduled on Chennai-Kolkata route following the accident since Sunday.

The collision took place 150 km from Odisha, which had seen the Coromandel Shalimar Express derail and hit a goods train, with the Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast train subsequently colliding with the derailed coaches, in one of the worst train tragedies in the country’s history, nearly five months ago. A total of 295 passengers were killed and scores of others were injured in the triple train crash on June 2 near the Bahanaga Bazaar station.

According to Ministry of Railways, lapses in the signalling- circuit-alteration at North Signal Goomty station caused the Coromandel Express to enter the loop line, instead of the main line. “The rear-collision was due to the lapses in the signalling-circuit-alteration carried out at the North Signal Goomty (of the station) in the past, and during the execution of the signalling work related to replacement of Electric Lifting Barrier for level crossing gate no. 94 at the Station,” said the report.

The lapses led to a green signal being displayed for the wrong line, leading to the collision of the Coromandel Express with a stationary goods train, it added.