At least three people died and 10 were injured after 13 coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailed in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday morning. Some reports said the toll is likely to rise.
Rescue operations are underway. The Ministry of Railways has announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh for the dead, Rs 1 lakh for the severely injured and Rs 50,000 for the other injured. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has also announced an investigation into the accident.
Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General Anand Kumar said, “Prima facie the cause of accident looks like fractured railway tracks as per local assessment,” ANI reported.
The Patna-bound train derailed at 4.33 am near Manikpur railway station in Chitrakoot, PTI reported. North Central Railway’s Public Relations Officer Amit Malviya said that the injured have been rushed to a hospital, and a medical train reached the spot by 5.20 am. Officials are also on their way to the spot to take stock of the situation, he said.
The derailment caused disruption of trains on the Patna-Allahabad route. A train with unaffected passengers left for Patna at 7.25 am, Malviya told IANS.
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