Four killed in mystery train hijack at Chennai station

A speeding electric suburban commuter train,suspected to have been hijacked by unidentified persons,rammed a goods train early this morning....

A speeding electric suburban commuter train,suspected to have been hijacked by unidentified persons,rammed a goods train early this morning,killing four persons,including two of the suspected hijackers,and leaving 11 others injured,five in serious condition.

The crash,which took place at Vyasarpadi Jeeva station shortly before 5 am,sounded alarm bells across the railway and security establishments,fuelling rumours aplenty the handiwork of LTTE sympathisers,a terror strike or simply an act of sabotage. Railway officials pointed out that had the incident taken place during rush hour,the casualty figures could have been very high.

The identity of the persons who seized control of the train engine remained unclear while Southern Railway officials pointed out that only skilled and knowledgeable hands could have operated the engine. Two bodies were recovered from the cabin,raising suspicion that they were the hijackers. Authorities later said one of the bodies was that of one Mohanraj of Avadi.

The Chennai-Tiruvallur train left Moore Market Station around 4.50 am,about 30 minutes ahead of its scheduled departure,picking up speed rapidly though it was on the wrong track. It sped past a signal and station at Basin Bridge and jumped a crossing before crashing head-on with a goods train approaching Vyasarpadi Jeeva station from the other direction.

The train was moving so fast that it covered the distance from Moore Market to Vyasarpadi in less than 3 minutes whereas the usual running time is 10 minutes. There was no time to even respond, said a senior Railway official. Spotting the speeding train,the driver of the goods train applied the brakes and jumped off. His assistant and the guard followed him,sustaining fractures in the process.

So great was the impact that the engine of the commuter train flew off the tracks and the coaches were all mangled. A speedometer recovered from the site was stuck at over 90 kmph. The crash also led to a fire which was finally brought under control by Fire and Rescue Service personnel.

We do not want to do any guesswork on this incident. Only a detailed inquiry can reveal a clear picture, said Southern Railway CPRO Neenu Ittyerah. Senior officials,however,said they suspected that someone familiar with the working of an engine must have been involved. It requires three to four specific positive actions to start a train and move it out of the station. A lay person will not be able to do it, an official said.