At least eighteen people were killed after Dehradun-Gorakhpur Rapti Ganga Express rams an autorickshaw in Bihar`s Motihari district on Monday. Reports alleged that all who have died in the mishap belong to the same family. The railway authorities have confirmed the death of four people in the accident.
The accident took place at a manned crossing at Semra-Sugauli section numbering 169 C. According to the sources the railway authorities have not reached the accident spot yet, but the bodies are being taken out with the assistance of the local villagers. As the autorickshaw got stuck in the engine of the train, it stopped on the spot. The local people are angry about the accident.
A local mob had then handed out instant street justice, thrashing the train driver and his assistant mercilessly after the August 19, 2013, accident in Khagaria district. Today, people living near the crossing said the gateman, Santosh Kumar, fled immediately after the crash. The train’s driver and the guard couldn’t be found either.
Witnesses said the accident occurred around 3pm, barely 20 minutes after the Muzaffarpur-Dehra Dun Rapti Ganga Express had left Bapudham Motihari station and around the same time the victims, from Chiknauta village, were returning from the annual fair in a temple complex in nearby Semra.
Dharmendra Jha, a local resident who saw the crash, said the auto-rickshaw, packed with villagers, was crossing the tracks as the gates of the level crossing near Chhapra Bahas village had not been closed.
The Dehra Dun-bound train, speeding at around 70kmph, smashed into the three-wheeler. Such was the impact that the train dragged the auto for more than 200m before coming to a halt, Jha said.
The site of the crash is some 180km northwest of Patna and falls on the Semra-Sugauli section of East Central Railway (ECR).
Local people blamed the railway administration as the crossing is “manned”, unlike the thousands across the country that are unmanned, one of the reasons for track deaths.
Samastipur divisional railway manager Malik said the gateman had been put under suspension for alleged negligence. “Under the rules, the assistant station master of the nearest railway station informs the gateman as soon as a train leaves a nearby station. The assistant station master of Semra station had informed the gateman but he (the gateman) didn’t close the gate (less than a kilometre away from Semra station), leading to the accident,” Malik said, adding that a high-level probe had been ordered.
Another ECR official said the traffic inspector of Bapudham Motihari railway station, B.M. Tripathi, and the assistant station master of Semra station, Sunil Kumar, had also been placed under suspension.
Fearing the wrath of the local people, the entire staff of Sugauli railway station disappeared. Police reached the spot at least an hour after the accident but preferred to keep away seeing the anger of the villagers.
For hours, the train stood surrounded by a mob. The passengers had a tense wait but none were harmed.
East Champaran district magistrate Abhay Kumar Singh and superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Singh reached the spot almost three hours after the accident and were camping near the site. “With co-operation of the local people, we are first trying to pull out the auto-rickshaw and some bodies out of the engine,” Abhay said.
The Railways have announced ex-gratia of Rs. 50,000 to the family members of the families of the deceased. The state government has also announced ex-gratia of Rs. 1.5 lakh to the family of those who died. In addition, those injured will get Rs. 5,000 in the mishap.
It is not the first case reported of train and vehicle collision at manned railway crossing in Bihar. In March, a goods train going to dryport in Nepal from Bihar`s Raxaul district rammed into a tractor. The tractor was dragged to two kilometers with the speeding train engine. The body of the driver was untraceable after the accident.
Another incident in the same month was reported in Begusarai, a manned crossing near Bachwara station train rammed a tempo with students. One student died in the mishap while five others were seriously injured.
On 22 May 2011, in Madhubani district of Bihar 15 died in the collision of Bolero and Garib Rath express at a manned crossing.
Tuesday 19 August 2014
http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/NAT-TOP-train-rams-autorickshaw-at-a-manned-railway-crossing-killing-18-in-bihar-4716707-NOR.html
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140819/jsp/nation/story_18734688.jsp
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