Four dead and 100 injured after train derails in eastern India

‘Poor track maintenance’ blamed for train derailment months after India faced worst rail accident this century

At least four people were killed and around 100 others injured after a train in India’s eastern Bihar state derailed, disrupting several other routes.

The train derailed at around 9.35pm local time while crossing the Buxar district in eastern Bihar. Officials said 21 coaches of the train derailed in what is being suspected to be the result of “poor track maintenance”, according to Indian media reports. Several routes have been disrupted as the Indian Railways cancelled eight trains and diverted at least 92 others.

The train was scheduled to complete a 33-hour-long, 2,000km journey from national capital Delhi to Kamakhya city in northeastern Assam state.

Officials from the national and state disaster response forces reached the site and the injured were rushed to hospital, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, India’s minister of state for railway told the NDTV news channel.

Coaches of the North-East Express passenger train that derailed in Bihar (AP)

“We have sent rescue and medical teams to the spot,” the Indian Railways said, issuing emergency helpline numbers for passengers.

The accident on Wednesday comes months after the country faced its worst train accident in the century in the eastern Odisha state. The accident in June that was the result of a three-way train collision had led to the deaths of 293 passengers and at least a 1,000 injuries.

The scale of the accident was such that victims’ relatives were forced to wait for DNA tests to identify their loved ones.

In India, economically poor people often travel vast distances by train as it is the cheapest mode of transport. While derailments used to occur frequently in the past, instances of such accidents have diminished over the years due to the adoption of technology.

A railway official said a “war room” had been established to monitor the situation after Wednesday’s incident and that rescue operations were ongoing.

People watch damaged carriages near Raghunathpur railway station some 44km from Buxar on 11 October (AFP via Getty Images)

Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar announced compensation payments of Rs 400,000 (£3,900) would be made to each of the families of the people who died.

The Hindustan Times newspaper quoted officials as saying that poor track maintenance or a fault in the track changing point seemed to have caused the derailment.

“The area is not known for any unlawful activities,” an official told HT.

Train accident victims rest at a government hospital some 44km from Buxar (AFP via Getty Images)

Pillars, electrical poles and signal posts near both tracks were damaged at the accident site, the newspaper said.

The June derailment in Odisha had been blamed on faulty connections in the automated signalling system that had led to a passenger train hitting a stationary freight train before jumping off the tracks and hitting another passenger train in the opposite direction.