Eight People Killed And Over 50 Injured After Seemanchal Express Derails In Bihar’s Vaishali District

The 12487 Jogbani-Anand Vihar Terminal Seemanchal Express which was a a Delhi-bound train, running on full speed, derailed from its track on 3 February (Sunday) at 3:58 am, reports Indian Express. Officials say that prima facie rail fracture appears to be the cause of the derailment.

Eight people are reportedly killed and over 50 injured after nine coaches of Seemanchal Express derailed in Bihar’s Sahdei Buzurg area Sunday morning. In response to this accident, an accident relief train along with a team of doctors was rushed to the spot to carry out relief and rescue operation.

According to East Central Railway spokesperson Rajesh Kumar, one general coach, one AC coach B3, three sleeper coaches – S8, S9, S10 – and four more coaches have derailed.

The Ministry of Railways has expressed their grief and has said “We express profound grief over the loss of innocent lives in tragic derailment of 12487 Jogbani-AnandVihar Terminal Seemanchal Exp at Sahadaibuzurg in Bihar. Rescue and relief operations are at full swing. Our GM & DRM, NDRF teams, & officials of local administration are at site,”in a tweet.

Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of those killed and Rs 1 lakh for those grievously injured.

In the past year there have been several train accidents with one taking place yesterday when a super fast train between Rajasthan’s Ajmer and Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur derailed near Jaipur. The engine of the train overturned and the coach after it derailed near Sanganer railway station, near Jaipur.

Furthermore, in October last year at least 59 people were killed and several others injured in Amritsar when two speeding trains ran over people standing on the tracks near a railway crossing on the occasion of Dussehra. In May 2018, the assistant loco pilot of Howrah-Mumbai Mail died after he tripped off the train while he was inspecting smoke emanating from the locomotive.