Bihar accident: Train derailed when driver applied emergency brakes after ‘sensing rattling’ on tracks

Pained by the loss of lives due to the derailment of a few coaches of the North East Express. Condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for a quick recovery of the injured. Authorities are providing all possible assistance to all those affected: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 12, 2023

Four persons, including a 33-year-old woman from New Delhi and her eight-year-old daughter, died in the accident. As many as 33 passengers were being treated for injuries at government hospitals in Bhonpur, Buxar and Patna, while 38 others had been discharged after getting treatment.

Officials said the preliminary investigation into the incident showed that the driver “had to apply emergency brakes when the train was running at a speed of 128 kmph because he sensed rattling tracks as the train was entering Raghunathpur railway station”.

The Eastern Central Railways’ chief public relations officer, Virendra Kumar, told The Indian Express, “A probe is being conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. He has already reached the spot. We will soon get to know the reasons behind the accident.”

Two of the four AC coaches that tipped over suffered the most damage. Usha Bhandari (33) and one of her twin daughters, Akriti Bhandari (8), were in one of the AC compartments.

“We were told that Usha and her daughter were near the gate of an AC coach. As its gate opened after the emergency brakes were applied, they fell on the track and died,” Raghunathpur Community Health Centre head, Dr GK Yadav, told The Indian Express.

Officials said Kishanganj resident Abu Zayed (27) was the third deceased, while the fourth was yet to be identified.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “Pained by the loss of lives due to the derailment of a few coaches of the North East Express. Condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for a quick recovery of the injured. Authorities are providing all possible assistance to all those affected,” he said in a post on X.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the families of the deceased. “The state government will bear the medical expenses of all passengers injured in the accident,” he added.

Regarding the situations in which emergency brakes may be applied on a train, a locomotive driver not connected to this incident said, “An engine driver applies emergency brakes only when there is an obstruction, a sudden red signal, or to cover a margin of distance to stop the train. In the Raghunathpur case, the driver might well have sensed a rattling in the tracks, and would have tried to prevent a major accident by applying the emergency brakes.”

Local resident Shailesh Kumar Ojha, one of the first to reach the site of the accident, said a loud bang alerted locals to the incident. “We heard a big bang. Just when the train was about to enter Raghunathpur railway station, its compartments came off the track, and one compartment nearly collided with a house that was some 70 metres away from the track,” he said.

Around a 100 people from the village and neighbouring areas reached the site of the accident and began rescue efforts, Ojha said. They helped take passengers out of the overturned compartments and also brought food, he added. By around 11.30 pm, state and national disaster response forces joined the rescue efforts, and all passengers were evacuated from the area by 2 am.

Restoration work is now in progress at the tracks, with compartments being removed from the tracks using cranes. Railway traffic between Buxar and Patna is likely to be restored by late Thursday.