-Galla S Kiran Kumar,Bureau Chief Telagana (Andhra Pradesh)
A terrible train accident took place in Vizianagaram district. 14 people were killed in an accident between Kantakapalli-Alamanda in Kothavalasa mandal where a train on the track collided with another train from behind at seven o’clock on Sunday night.
Another train that hit the front train on the same track from behind rammed into the goods on the adjacent track causing
further distress 14 people were killed.. More than
100 people were injured and
the number of dead is likely to increase .
Today – Vijayanagaram, Visakhapatnam: A fatal train accident took place in Vijayanagaram district. 14 people were killed in an accident between Kantakapalli-Alamanda in Kothavalasa mandal where a train on the track collided with another train from behind at seven o’clock on Sunday night. Authorities announced that 33 people were injured. According to the situation at the scene, the number of injured people is more than 100. The situation seems to increase the number of dead. The Visakhapatnam-Palasa (08532) train which started from Visakhapatnam towards Vizianagaram was hit by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada (08504) train which started a few minutes from behind. Due to this accident, the bogies of the Rayagada train were crushed and some others derailed.
There they hit the bogies of the goods train on another track. Due to this, dire conditions are seen here. The rescue operations were severely hampered due to darkness. Approaching Kantakapalli-Alamanda, Palasa passenger slowed to a signal and stopped on the track at 848 km. At that time, the passengers said that they were hit by a Rayagada train coming from behind. It is noteworthy that this passenger train accident took place similar to the Baleshwar train accident in June this year. The Palasa guard bogie collided with the Rayagada engine and both were crushed. At this speed, the Rayagada bogies rammed into the engine of the same train. At the same time, a goods train is passing by.
When the accident happened, some bogies of the Rayagada train collided with the goods train. Seven bogies of two passenger and goods trains were crushed. As two bogies of the Palasa train ran into the tanker goods, the tracks rose up and the train ran upside down under it, reflecting the severity of the accident. The three bogies of the Rayagada train hit the engine from behind and collided with the nearby coal freight train. The disabled carriage of the Visakha-Rayagada train derailed and fell into the fields. The D-1 bogie behind it broke some speed and lifted off. Providing relief at the scene has become a challenge.
Massive death toll?
It seems that there are about 1400 passengers in the Palasa and Rayagada passenger trains. According to the estimates of the personnel involved in relief operations in the incident area, the death toll is 40-50. 10 dead bodies were recovered till midnight. Some of them have been identified. It seems that the number of dead is likely to increase as the bogies carrying passengers went out of control and split in two. Along with K. Ravi of Jami mandal Gudikommu of Vizianagaram district, Perumazzi Gaurinayudu of Garividi mandal Kapushambham village and Gidijala Lakshmi (40) of SPR Puram G. Sigadam mandal of Srikakulam district were identified. It seems that the guard MS Rao, who was leaning against the rear bogie of the Palasa train, and the loco pilots who were in the engine of the Rayagada train were killed.
Relief measures are extremely difficult
As the accident site is more than 5 km away from the Vizianagaram-Kottavalasa main road, all kinds of relief efforts are becoming difficult. NDRF and SDRF teams have taken up war-like assistance. Cutters were used to pull out the dead bodies from the crushed bogies. In order to transport the injured, they have to walk for a kilometer on the railway track and load them in ambulances. The area where the accident took place looked like a desert with injured and dead bodies. The seriously injured were shifted to Visakha KGH and the slightly injured to Vizianagaram Government Hospital. Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Vizianagaram Collector Nagalakshmi and SP Deepika reached the spot and supervised the relief efforts.
Signal problem? Human error?
The Palasa train from Visakha departed towards Vizianagaram at 5:45 pm. Rayagada passenger left Visakhapatnam on the same track at 6 o’clock. A fatal accident took place within an hour. Passengers say that the train from Kantakapalli moved very slowly on the track due to a signal problem with the preceding Palasa train. In the meantime, it is explained that a train coming from behind collided with it. A railway employee who traveled in the accident expressed his concern that this is the first time such an accident has occurred in his 26 years of service.
After the accident, the rescue operations were carried out by the machinery…A coal transport train and a tanker train were moved from the area around 12 midnight. Also, the rest of the bogies of the Palasa train were moved except the bogies that were involved in the accident. At the time of this accident, the Konark Express was stopped at Kantakapalli. Passengers were transported by road in the respective trains.
Cancellation of many trains today: In the wake of the train accident, the railway authorities have announced that many trains have been canceled on Monday as well. Korba-Visakhapatnam, Paradeep-Visakhapatnam, Rayagada-Visakhapatnam, Palasa-Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam-Gunupur, Gunupur-Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram-Visakhapatnam trains have been cancelled.
Prime Minister will help the families of the deceased at the rate of Rs. 2 lakh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of life in the accident. Deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery. He announced an exgratia of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50 thousand to the injured. The Prime Minister’s Office revealed that he spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and got the details. Ashwini Vaishnav said in ‘X’ that all passengers were evacuated from the accident site. He explained that the Prime Minister also spoke to AP Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy and the railway teams are working in coordination.
10 lakhs to the affected families of AP
CM Jagan announced Rs. 2 lakhs for the injured
Today Digital, Amaravati: CM Jaganmohan Reddy expressed shock over the train accident. The officials were ordered to intensify the relief measures. CM Jagan announced a compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs to the families of AP who died in the train accident and Rs. 2 lakhs to those seriously injured. The officials were ordered to give Rs.2 lakhs in case of death to other states and Rs.50,000 to those seriously injured. He spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav over the phone on Sunday night about the incident. He explained that Minister Botsa Satyanarayana was sent to the spot and the rescue teams reached the spot when the accident was reported. It has been revealed that the local Collector and SP are supervising the relief efforts and the injured are being shifted to different hospitals and are being given better treatment.
TDP workers should participate in relief activities
– party leaders Achchennaidu, Lokesh call
Today, Amaravati: TDP state president Achchennaidu has expressed deep sorrow over the train accident. He asked to support the families of the deceased and provide better medical services to the injured. Party General Secretary Nara Lokesh has called upon the local TDP ranks to participate in relief activities.
A thorough investigation should be conducted: Pawan
Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan asked the state government and railway officials to provide better medical treatment to the injured in the train accident. They demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the accident. Janasena leaders and Jana soldiers appealed to participate in relief operations.
