Accountability of railway ministry, central govt should be fixed: Kharge

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday expressed condolences to the families of the deceased following the derailment of the Assam bound North-East Express train a day ago

Recalling the accident earlier this year in June in Odisha's Balasore, Kharge pointed out that the accountability of the Railway Ministry and the Central Government should be fixed in such types of incidents.

Claiming that over 100 people were injured in Wednesday night's train derailment, Kharge took to X to post in Hindi, "The news of North-East Express going from New Delhi to Assam derailed in Buxar, Bihar is very painful. Many people have lost their lives and more than 100 people have been injured in this horrific accident. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured."

Kharge posted, "This is the second major derailment accident after the Balasore train accident of June 2023. Accountability of the Railway Ministry and the Central Government should be fixed."

Mallikarjun Kharge further requested the Congress workers to provide all possible help to the victims.

The 12506 North-East Express from Anand Vihar Terminal in New Delhi to Kamakhya near Guwahati in Assam when 21 of its coaches derailed at 9:35 PM near Raghunathpur station of the Danapur division of the East Central Railway in Bihar's Buxar.

The Station Superintendent of Kamakhya Railway Station, AK Sinha said, "A helpline has been issued by Kamakhya Railway Station: 0361-267-4857. All information is available on this helpline."

Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that evacuation and rescue operations had been completed. "Evacuation and rescue are complete. All coaches checked. Passengers will be shifted to a special train soon for their onward journey," Vaishnaw posted on X.

The accident came just over four months after the horrific triple train tragedy in Odisha's Balasore district in June that had claimed 296 lives. On June 20, 2023, three trains--the Coromandel Express, a goods train, and the SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express--collided. 176 people sustained grievous injuries, 451 suffered simple injuries, and 180 received first aid treatment.