Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today expressed his grief over the loss of innocent lives in Bachhravan train accident near Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and has announced setting up of a helpline to assist the victims.
The Dehradun-Varanasi Express was to stop at Bachhravan station at around 9.10 AM today but the train did not stop and entered the sand hump causing derailment of its engine and four coaches which resulted in death of several passengers and injuries to many, according to Railway Ministry spokesperson.
Railways have made several helpline numbers operational at Bachhravan, Dehradun, Lucknow, Varanasi, Pratpgarh, Rae bareli,, Haridwar and Bareli for providing information about the affected passengers.
Helpline numbers are - 09794845621 at Bachhravan, 0135-2624002 at Dehradun, 09794830973 at Lucknow, 9542-2503841 at Varanasi, 0534-2223830 at Pratapgarh, 0535-2211224 at Rae Bareli, 0134-226477 at Haridwar, 0581-2258161 at Bareli.
While ordering an inquiry by the Commissioner Railway Safety of Northern Circle, to ascertain the cause of the derailment of the Dehradun-Vranasi Express, he has also announced ex-gratia for the for the next kith and kind of the dead and the injured passengers.
"Prima-facie, cause of the derailment was overshooting the signal by the loco driver. However the real cause of the mishap would be known only after the inquiry," the spokesperson said.
The accident site is about 30 km from Rae Bareli. Senior railway officials including Chairman Railway Board AK Mital and Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha have rushed to the site to monitor the rescue and relief operation.
"The focus is now on the relief and rescue operations at the site," he said adding "injured persons have been shifted to nearby hospitals."
Accident relief medical trains from Lucknow have been rushed to the site.
Prabhu has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next kith and kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 20,000 for the simple injury to passengers.
