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

Agencies
August 20, 2017

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.

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.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Srinagar, May 12: Two paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers committed suicide after shooting themselves with their service rifles in Kashmir on Tuesday.

In the first incident, a CRPF sub-inspector on Tuesday committed suicide after shooting himself with his service rifle at Mattan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The deceased, identified as Fatah Singh of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, had reportedly left behind a suicide note that read: “I am afraid, I may have Corona.”

Station House Officer (SHO) Akura, Mattan police station Jazib Ahmed said that they have followed the COVID-19 protocol while dealing with the body of the CRPF sub-inspector. “His samples have been taken and post-mortem conducted. Only results would confirm whether he was a COVID-19 positive,” he said.

CRPF spokesman in Srinagar Pankaj Singh said the officer had returned to his unit after performing a day-long duty. “As such, there is no evidence that he had caught COVID-19. Let’s wait for the final report. Details will be shared with the media,” Singh said.

Hours after the first incident, an assistant-sub-inspector of the CRPF posted in Srinagar also committed suicide by shooting himself dead with his service rifle.

Special Director General of CRPF, Zulfikar Hassan said they were trying to find out the reason for the two boys taking this extreme step.

Suicides and fratricide incidents are not uncommon among the CRPF and the Army personnel deployed in Kashmir. In 2006, recognising the rising fratricide and suicide cases among the armed forces, the then Defence Minister had constituted an expert group of psychiatrists under the Defence Institute of Psychological Research in order to suggest remedial measures to prevent suicide and fratricide incidents.

Over the last decade, incidents of fratricide have reportedly reduced in the Army as the force has taken measures to address the issue.

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: A disturbing video of a Covid-19 patient, speaking his last words, after his oxygen supply was allegedly cut off, has surfaced on social media. The patient reportedly died after indicating that the oxygen supply to him was cut off despite his requests.

The video has a 35-year-old Covid-19 patient bidding good-bye to his family, from a government hospital bed in Hyderabad. The patient Ravi Kumar can be seen speaking out against the negligence of of the medical staff in providing ventilator support to him when he needed it the most.

The video has led to social media outrage as it attracted public attention towards plight of patients in government hospitals

"I am not able to breathe, I pleaded but they did not continue oxygen for the last three hours. I am not able to breathe anymore daddy, it's like my heart has stopped, Bye daddy. Bye to all, daddy," these were apparently the final words of the man, who spoke in his local dialect, and shared on social media.

Several reports have claimed that the man had been admitted to government Chest hospital, after several private hospitals refused to admit him. His ventilator support was allegedly taken off in the hospital, after which he recorded the video message.

The victim’s family shared the video message for the public to know of the negligence.

Reports have it that Ravi’s covid-19 report, which testes positive, was given to family a day after his death, when 30 of his family members performed the final rites, thus making all of them vulnerable to the virus. Ravi’s father has alleged that the test was done on June 24 and Ravi died on June 26, while the report was given to them on June 27.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, Apr 3: The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi has risen to 384, including 259 who were evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

In last 24 hours, 91 new cases were reported in the national capital and one more person evacuated from the Markaz died due to coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in the city to five, he said.

Of the 384 cases, 58 had recent foreign travel history and 38 contracted the virus after coming in contact with them, he added.

Kejriwal said community spread of the virus is not taking place in Delhi yet and there is no need to panic as the situation is under control.

The government has made preparations if the virus starts spreading among people, he said.

The chief minister also launched a WhatsApp helpline - 8800007722 for people to enquire about COVID-19, food banks, shelters among others.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and experts will interact with students and answer their queries related to the virus at 3 pm on Saturday.

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