Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Neelamani told the media that the accident occurred at around 11.45 pm last night after the Amritsar-Katihar Amrapali Express crossed Parasha section of the Eastern Central Railway (ECR) and was on its way to Katihar.

 

Railway sources informed that the engine and two coaches are submerged in water. The officials also described the incident as a miraculous escape for other passengers as the train was moving slowly. The GRP escort rescued the driver and passengers from the two coaches.

 

The deceased has been identified as Puran Singh from Cahinpur village of Purnia district. The body of a 22-year-old boy has been sent to Khagaria Hospital for post mortem. The injured have been meanwhile, admitted to nearby hospitals. The condition of three of them, including a lady passenger who had received a head injury, is critical. While passengers with minor injuries have been given first aid, the rest have been sent to Katihar by another train.

 

Meanwhile, rail movement has been badly affected on the Barauni – Katihar section due to the accident. Five passenger trains have been cancelled and 15 long distance trains, including the North East Express (2506), have been diverted. Senior railway officials and engineers have already reached the spot on early Thursday morning, October 8. Traffic restoration on the main line will take a couple of hours.

 

Train movements on Barauni – Katihar section have remained hampered for at least a month during September, due to floods and all trains were diverted on to the Malda – Bhagalpur route that caused unexpected delay. Only since last week was the rail movement restored on this track.

 

Now the accident has again affected train movement on this section. Although the reason of the accident is not confirmed yet, but flood affected tracks are still damp and this may have caused this unfortunate accident.