Six coaches of the Kolkata-Sairang Express derailed at Digaru railway station in Assam’s Kamrup (Metro) district, prompting the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to order a high-level investigation into the accident.
No deaths have been reported. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said all passengers are safe, while four people sustained minor injuries and are receiving medical care.
What happened at Digaru
The derailment took place at around 6:54 a.m. as the Kolkata-Sairang Express was being received at Digaru station to give precedence to another train. The locomotive, along with five coaches, derailed after the loco pilot could not control the speed, according to the NFR.
More than 300 passengers from West Bengal were on board the train, which was travelling from Kolkata to Sairang in Mizoram. Relief and rescue operations were started at once, and passengers are being transported to their destinations by alternate trains.
A high-level probe
The NFR has dispatched a team of senior railway officials and experts to determine the exact cause of the incident. Chief Public Relations Officer Kopinjal Kishore Sharma said the railway authorities are also examining video recordings made by the loco pilot before the accident as part of the investigation.
The exact cause of the derailment is yet to be established, and the probe team’s findings will decide what went wrong at the station.
Trains cancelled, passengers moved
Three trains were cancelled because of the accident: the Guwahati-Haibargaon Express, the Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Intercity Express and the New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati Intercity Express. Help desks have been set up at Sealdah, Alipurduar, Naihati and Berhampore Court stations to assist passengers and their families.
Train movement has returned to normal, and three of the five derailed coaches have been repaired, with work on the remaining two expected to be completed soon. The state government is working closely with the Railway Ministry following the derailment.
Rail safety in the region has been in focus before, from floods halting trains across Upper Assam to demands for better rail links from Arunachal Pradesh. The NFR has also taken legal action in the past when blockades disrupted services.
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