Brahmaputra Mail Derailed


Gaisal ghost strikes again:

Nijbari (Phansidewa), Dec. 10: Death struck at express speed but this time the casualty was one. More than 1,000 passengers of the 4055 DN Brahmputra Mail had a miraculous escape when 14 of the 17 coaches jumped tracks here last night (Sunday night).

In 1999, the same train -- Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail -- had a head-on collision with the Delhi-Guwahati Avadh-Assam Express in Gaisal, killing at least 300 passengers. The Gaisal ghost came back again on December 23, 2003 when 11 coaches of the train got derailed in Malda. There were no casualties then.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), which is not ruling out sabotage, claimed that 66 people were injured though eyewitnesses said the figure would be at least 100. “Of the 66, 30 were released after first aid while the others are under treatment at different hospitals in and around Siliguri,” said T. Rabha, the chief public relations officer of the NFR.

Most people were asleep when the bogies jumped tracks around 11.10pm, 20 minutes after leaving New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station, 15km away. The deceased has been identified as Mohd. Amroj (27) who was found buried in the mangled wreck. Amroj worked in the pantry car, which was the worst-hit since an AC compartment had gone up over it.

Suresh Yadav, who was also in the pantry car, said: “We were getting ready for bed. Suddenly there was a deafening sound and the lights went off. We were thrown to the ground. I saw the roof coming down over me and ran for the door. Some of us broke open the glass windows and we escaped.” No one realised that Amroj was still inside.

“A little later we heard him shouting for help. But by that time the roof had fallen on him and we could not bring him out.”

Asutosh Swami, the general manager of the NFR, who visited the spot this morning, said “prima facie evidence” pointed to a number of probabilities. “There is a crack in one of the tracks which needs to be investigated. The derailment might have been caused by the crack or the crack might have developed after derailment.” Swami said the investigating authority or official is yet to be decided.

Several passengers complained that help was late in coming. The medical van from New Jalpaiguri was parked so far away that most of the injured could not walk up to it through the darkness. “There was no food or water. It was cold and we were waiting under the open sky.

The special train arrived at 3am. I heard him (Amroj) screaming. Had help come on time, he could have been saved,” said T.N. Dubey who was in S7. Swami said such confusion was natural after an accident.

Posted On: The Telegraph

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Image Courtesy: Press Trust of India (PTI)

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