Coromandel derails in Orissa: at least 9 die,150 injured

At least nine people were killed and around 150 injured tonight when 16 coaches of the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express from Howrah derailed near Jajpur Road station...

At least nine people were killed and around 150 injured tonight when 16 coaches of the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express from Howrah derailed near Jajpur Road station,100 km from Bhubaneswar. The death toll is expected to rise a PTI report put the death toll at 15 as many people are feared trapped inside the overturned coaches.

The mishap,which occurred around 8 pm immediately after train passed the Jajpur Road station,came on a day when Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav flagged the railways safety record and decline in accidents.

Orissa DGP Manmohan Praharaj said around 150 people were injured,40 of them critically. The train does not stop at Jajpur Road.

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Darkness hampered rescue and several passengers were believed to be trapped. Efforts were on to extricate people after cutting through coaches.

Satyabrata Gupta,a Tripura police inspector travelling to Chennai with his family in coach S-1,told The Indian Express: I saw a few people die. My wife has fractured her leg, I cant find my two cousins.

Anupam Nayak,travelling to Cuttack from Howrah,said: It was dark. I could hear the shouts for help.

One coach had telescoped into another under the impact. Some of the coaches were extensively damaged.

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Yadav announced Rs 5 lakh and a job for the next of the kin of the dead,Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 10,000 for those with injuries.

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