19 Killed After Four Bogies of Passenger Train Derail in Maharashtra’s Raigad

www.mangaloretoday.com

Mumbai, May 4, 2014: 19 people were killed and at least 30 were injured when four compartments of the Diva-Sawantwadi Passenger, along with the engine, were derailed between Nagothane and Roha stations in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Sunday morning.

Police said the incident occurred close to a tunnel near Nidi village, on the Konkan Railway route, when the engine of the train and four bogies derailed at around 10 am.

The injured passengers are being rushed to Roha for medical treatment, police said.

Emergency services have been rushed to the accident site and rescue operations are still going on, they said.

Rescue workers are trying to extricate bodies trapped under bogies that overturned after the derailment.

Following the mishap, the services on Konkan Railway route were suspended.

Reasons behind the derailment are not known yet.

Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil has visited the accident site.

Railways has ordered an inquiry into the accident and Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. two lakh for those killed in the accident, Rs. 50,000 for the grievously hurt and Rs. 10,000 for passengers who suffered minor injuries.

This is the second derailment on the Konkan route in the last one month. Earlier, it was closed for almost 23 hours due to the derailment of a goods train inside a tunnel near Ratnagiri town, affecting railway traffic severely