39 dead as Hirakhand Express derails in Andhra; Railways suspects foul play

Area is known to have Naxalite activity, but the Odisha Police ruled out involvement of the rebels

At least 39 people were killed and about 60 injured as the engine and nine coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express jumped the tracks in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district. 

The railways suspect sabotage as the reason for the derailment, the third in as many months. The area is known to have Naxalite activity. But the Odisha Police ruled out the involvement of the rebels.

The East Coast Railway put the death toll at 39. Casualties are expected to rise as many bodies were feared trapped in the mangled coaches of the train, which derailed around 11 pm on Saturday on its way to Bhubaneswar from Jagdalpur. The engine and nine coaches of the train went off the tracks near Kuneru station, Chief PRO of East Coast Railway J P Mishra told PTI. Two AC coaches, four sleeper coaches, two general compartments and the guard-cum-passenger coach besides the locomotive of the train derailed.

“The real cause will be known only after an inquiry by the commissioner of railway safety,” railways spokesperson Anil Saxena said. “There are indications of foul play as a goods train passed the same track just two hours before the accident. The inspection by the patrol team also found the tracks okay yesterday. The driver applied emergency brake after feeling a big jerk and heard a loud sound. The area has Naxalite activity and the incident happened just ahead of the Republic Day.”

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who is closely monitoring the situation, rushed to the accident site with Chairman of the Railway Board, A K Mital, to assess the situation at ground zero.

Railway Protection Force Director General S K Bhagat said, “Nothing can be ruled out right now. But the actual cause will be ascertained only after the inquiry.”

However, Odisha DGP K B Singh said: “There is no indication of Maoist involvement in the derailment of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express.”

Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to take stock of the situation. Singh assured Naidu of all central help in rescue and relief efforts and said a team of the National Disaster Response Force had already reached the spot. 

Naidu reviewed the situation with ministers from north coastal Andhra and asked them to rush to the accident spot to supervise rescue and relief measures. “We are investigating the cause of the accident,” the chief minister said. He also spoke to his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik and assured of all assistance.

Naidu announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh under an insurance scheme to the relatives of the deceased from the state. This would be in addition to the Rs 2 lakh ex gratia announced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the chief minister said on Twitter.

Train services on Rayagada and Vijayanagaram routes have been affected, with at least five trains cancelled and around eight others diverted.