Chennai:
At least nine people were killed and over were 100 injured when two trains collided near Chennai on Tuesday evening. The accident happened near Arakkonam when Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment train rammed the stationary Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train at around 9:30 pm.
The accident happened at a point between Melpakkam and Chitheri stations near Arakkonam. The Arakkonam-Katpadi train was waiting for signal when it was hit by the Vellore-bound train.
The exact cause of accident has not been confirmed yet. Railway officials suspect it to be a case of over-speeding. "The driver was speeding and jumped several signals before the collision," Southern Railways General Manager, Deepak Krish, told NDTV. The driver reportedly jumped out of the train before the collision. He has been critically injured.
Five bogies of the stationary train and three bogies of the moving train derailed after the accident. Many passengers were trapped in these bogies but reports suggest most of them have been pulled out safely.
Rescue operations and clearing of tracks is still on. Overnight rain and darkness hampered the rescue work, but it resumed after rain stopped this morning.
More than 100 police officials and firemen are involved in the rescue efforts. Navy personnel and two teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) are also at the site.
The injured were rushed to Arakkonam and Vellore government hospitals, and also to hospitals in Kancheepuram. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi will visit the site soon with senior officials. He has announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for the families of those killed and Rs 2 lakh for those seriously injured.
Rail services have fully resumed on the Chennai- Arakkonam line after it was disrupted following the accident with two trains being cancelled and many others diverted. Southern Railways has set up special help desks and helplines to help travellers.
This is the third rail mishap since July this year. Seventy people were killed when the Howrah-Kalka Mail derailed near Kanpur on July 10. Three weeks later, some coaches of Guwahati-Bangalore Express jumped the tracks in Malda district of West Bengal and were hit by another train leaving three persons dead.
Chennai helpline numbers: 044-25357398, 044-25347771, 09244919572