30 passengers dead, 300 injured as two trains derail in MP

The two passenger trains derailed within minutes of each other, while crossing a bridge on swollen Machak river near Harda

Around 30 lives were lost and more than 300 people are estimated to have been injured in a major train accident near Harda in Madhya Pradesh late Tuesday night.

Multiple coaches of Mumbai-Varanasi Kamayani Express and the Jabalpur Mumbai Janata Express derailed at the same time while crossing a rain-water flooded bridge over the Machak river nearly 160 Kilometer from capital Bhopal. 

Railway board Chairman AK Mittal said a flash flood had caused caving of the tracks which were intact minutes before the incident. Some of the bogies of the Kamayani Express had also fallen into the river, local authorities said.

Harda Collector Rajnish Shrivastava told PTI that derailment took place near Khirkiya and Harda station on Machak river.

Rescue operations were delayed because roads had been damaged by rain and teams had to walk in the dark to reach the accident site even as several passengers were feared trapped in water. The government had deployed around 90 divers of the NDRF by train during the night. Also, the army has sent a column of 150 personnel of specialized engineers regiment for rescue and relief operations. 

At least 25 trains from Mumbai are being diverted. Trains from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and MP were temporarily stopped. Also, some of the trains may be diverted via Rajasthan-Kota and Nagpur-Bhusaval route.  

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu spoke to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan who also chaired an emergency meeting. Prabhu said the incident took place due to flooding of tracks after very heavy downpour and he will make a detailed statement in Parliament on the tragedy. 

Rescue work in progress at Harda where Kamayani Express and Janata Express trains were derailed within minutes of each other while crossing a small bridge, at Harda in Madhya Pradesh

The Central Railway (CR) has set up four helpline numbers to provide relief to passengers. The Helpline numbers are - at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 022-22694040, LTT 022-25280005, Thane 022-25334840 and 0251-2311499 at Kalyan. 

The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who are seriously injured. Rs 10,000 will be given to those who recieved minor injuries. 

Prabhu also ordered an inquiry into the twin derailment and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 to grievously injured and 25,000 to those who sustained minor injuries. 

He said all efforts are underway to rescue the passengers and top officials have been rushed to the site.

An official statement quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as saying, "The two train accidents in Madhya Pradesh are deeply distressing. Deeply pained over the loss of lives. Condolences to families of deceased. My prayers with the injured. Authorities are doing everything possible on the ground. The situation is being monitored very closely."