Nine killed as Kurla-Howrah Express derails

Five of the derailed bogies were badly damaged in the mishap, which occurred between Mhasawad and Shirsoli stations at 0540 hours, an official release said.

Stranded passengers have been taken to Bhusaval from where they will continue their onward journey, the release said. Official sources say the mishap occured when a the welding of the line cracked. The engine delinked from the rake and six coaches overturned and five more derailed. Sabotage has been ruled out.

Though the coaches did not fall on the Up line, traffic was stopped on both the directions. A number of passenger trains had been cancelled andMumbai-bound trains were running late following the derailment, a central railway spokesman said.

Railways have opened special inquiry booths at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Dadar, Kurla, Kalyan, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Thane, Nagpur and Calcutta to provide information on the accident.

Meanwhile, at the site members of the public assisted official agencies in the rescue work. Some even donated blood for the wounded. Rescue work is in progress and authorities say the death toll is likely to go up as some passengers are still trapped inside one compartment.

Divisional railway manager R K Goyal, guarian minister of Jalgaon district Eknath Khadse, superintendent of police Bipinkumar Singh, Collector R K Meena visited the spot. Khadse announced an aid of Rs 10,000 each to the kin of the decessed. The Central Railway has opened information counters at Jalgaon and Mumbai CST for the benefit of relatives of the passengers.