23 dead in Uttar Pradesh rail accident; three trains cancelled, six rerouted

Lucknow, Aug 20: In a series of tweets, Prabhu said Minister of State Manoj Sinha has rushed to the spot while the Chairman of Railway Board and Member Traffic have been asked to oversee rescue and relief operations. "Rescue operations have been completed. All injured shifted to hospital. Restoration work will start now. Still monitoring situation closely. "Have directed Railway Doctors to visit the injured in hospitals and ensure best possible medical help. "Restoration work commenced. First coach, re-railed at 2355 hrs. My heart goes out for the families, kin of the deceased and injured (sic)," Prabhu earlier said in a series of tweets.

NDRF DG Sanjay Kumar said the rescue operations began at 8.50 pm and four teams were pressed into service. "Bodies of two males and a woman were extricated from beneath the mangled remains, while efforts were on to pull out another woman's body," he said in Khatauli.

The DG said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were trying to bring back to the ground one of the coaches which had settled atop the other due to the impact of the crash, adding, "So technically the operation would be over once we put the coach back on ground." Kumar said initially the NDRF had sent two teams from Ghaziabad but after seeing the magnitude of the tragedy two more teams were pressed into service.

Angements of Buses has been done for the clearance of the stranded passengers & for any further detail contact following Helpline no pic.twitter.com/86AirnBLyp

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) August 19, 2017

Another senior NDRF official at the accident site said, "About 165 personnel, including dog-trainers, worked on the rescue operations." Medical vans were also rushed to the site. The Railway ministry was also in close touch with the Uttar Pradesh government to coordinate rescue and relief operations. In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said that top priority was being accorded to ensure prompt rescue and relief work.

Meanwhile, Railways spokesperson Anil Saxena said, "Initially, we thought that it was only 4-5 coaches, now we have ascertained that 14 coaches have derailed. As of now our focus is on rescue and not on finding reasons for the accident." Since darkness was impeding rescue operations, he said the power department officials had been directed to ensure that there was no shortage of electricity. Kumar also said IMA chapters in Meerut zone have been alerted and asked to ensure adequate and prompt medical care to the injured.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath enquired about the accident and directed officials to take all possible action, an official spokesperson said. Uttar Pradesh ministers Suresh Rana and Satish Mahana visited the accident site and took stock of the situation after chief minister Adityanath directed them to reach Khatauli to expedite rescue and relief operations. The derailment of the Utkal Express also resulted in cancellation of three train services and diversion of six others.

According to a statement from railway ministry, the 14521/14522 Ambala-Delhi-Ambala Intercity Express, 18478 Haridwar-Puri Utkal Kalinga Express and the 14682 Jalandhar- New Delhi Intercity Express, which will commence journey on Sunday, stood cancelled.

Manoj Baliyan, a local resident, said he heard a massive thud and the next thing he saw was a blue railway coach flying over another coach and hit his house like a giant projectile. When the 42-year-old man gathered his wits all he couldsee was scores of bodies in front of the house, along the railway track.

"A coach had even rammed the boundary wall of a college building near our house," said Baliyan, who runs a shop in the area. "There was a massive thud and one of the coaches flew over the pantry car and rammed our house's porch," he said. The other end of the S2 coach is resting over the pantry coach with its doors shattered.