Two dead, 50 injured in rail derailment near Arakkonam

Two passengers were killed and fifty others injured when a train derailed at Sitheri near Arakkonam this morning, railway sources said.

Nine coaches of the Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur Express bound for Yesvantpur derailed at about 0550 hours, they said.

Two passengers were killed in the mishap, while the injured were admitted to the hospitals by the rescue teams of the Southern Railway, they added.

In the wake of the incident, the rail traffic on Arakkonam junction has been affected, sources said.

Nine people were killed when Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) train rammed into the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger from behind as it was waiting for a signal at Sitheri Station in 2011.