Railway minister leaves for Bihar accident site

Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda Wednesday left for Bihar to visit the spot where the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express train derailed near Chhapra, killing four people and injuring eight others early in the morning.

"I will see what all things happened there, how our officers are tackling the situation. I want to see the real place, where the incident took place," the minister told reporters before leaving.

"I came to know about the accident today (Wednesday) morning and thereafter me and my officers have been monitoring everything closely. The relief work is also being carried out," added Gowda.

He said: "Four passengers were killed and eight others were injured in the accident. All the injured were admitted to the hospital for treatment."

"All other passengers have been shifted to a railway station located nearby till some special arrangements are made for them to reach their destination," Gowda said.

An ex-gratia payment of Rs.2 lakh for the killed, Rs.1 lakh for the severely injured, and Rs.20,000 for the passengers with minor injuries will be made by the railway ministry.

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who is also the Lok Sabha member from Saran where the accident took place, visited the spot.

"This is a very serious issue. Undoubtedly, there has been a Maoist threat in this area. But I do not want to go in the merit of the case because it looks like a sabotage, possibly because of what I understand after looking at the tracks," Rudy said.

"I just spoke to the prime minister and the home minister and have briefed them about the incident. Both of them are concerned," said Rudy to a reporter of a TV channel.