Thursday, Jul 03, 2003
Thursday, Jul 03, 2003 |
| Front Page | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Front Page
By S. Nagesh Kumar
The engine of the Golconda Express hanging precariously after falling off a road underbridge near the Warangal railway station on Wednesday. — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
Ten of the victims were passengers of the train while seven persons, including a woman, were crushed to death when the diesel engine hurtled down on to the road below. The South Central Railway authorities attributed the accident to brake-failure in the engine. According to eyewitnesses, the train was approaching the station at a speed of 50-55 km an hour though it was scheduled to halt at Warangal. It was expected to slow down to a speed of 15 kmph at a signal one km before the railway station. Even before the Station Master could react, the train sped past platform number two and rammed the sand hump at the end of the track, barely 300 metres from the station, at 10.25 a.m. The engine smashed the barriers and fell off the bridge ahead, dragging along two passenger compartments and derailing two more. The resulting impact was so great that nine passengers in the first and second coaches were instantaneously killed. The engine fell on an auto rickshaw and three persons in the vehicle, including the driver, were crushed to death. A scooterist and a fish vendor too suffered a similar end.
`Aghast at the speed'
K.L. Rao, who was waiting at the station to board the train, said he was aghast at the speed at which the train was whizzing past and feared an impending disaster. He said some passengers jumped off the speeding train and one of them fell to his death. Another eyewitness, Chandrasekhar Avadhani, an Inspector of Police in Mamnoor, said he was outside a bank near the under bridge, when he heard the sound of steel crashing into the road. He alerted higher police officials and, with the help of local people, swung into action to save the passengers. The toll would have been higher but for the fact that the first bogie had luggage racks at both the front and the rear. Railway workers and police personnel were seen using gas cutters to prise open the mangled compartments to retrieve the bodies. The cause of the mishap was a subject of controversy because the train had stopped without any problem at the Nekkonda railway station, 30 km away from here, at 10.12 a.m. Railway officials, who had earlier attributed the accident to brake failure, later changed their version and held the driver, Rasheed Jani, responsible. The Warangal Superintendent of Police, Nalin Prabhat, said the driver and his assistant, who sustained minor injuries, ran away from the scene but returned later. However, Jani refused to speak to the police and complained of chest pain. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, flew to Warangal from West Godavari and consoled the injured and families of those killed. Earlier, he visited the scene of the accident. Mr. Naidu said he would speak to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on Friday requesting him to order a high-level inquiry into the accident. Pointing out that this was the third train tragedy in as many months in the State he said the Railways must fix responsibility and punish the guilty. "They cannot play with people's lives," he said. Ex-gratia announced Our New Delhi Special Correspondent reports: The Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, has announced an enhanced ex-gratia payment of Rs.1 lakh to the next of the kin of those killed in the train accident at Warangal. Importantly, the ex-gratia payment would also be made to the next of the kin of the road users who died in the accident. According to the official spokesman of the Railway Ministry, Mr. Kumar has similarly announced an enhanced ex-gratia payment of Rs. 25,000 for the grievously injured and Rs. 10,000 for those who received minor injuries (both passengers and road users). Normally the next of the kin of the dead in a rail accident are entitled to Rs. 25,000 while Rs. 5,000 is paid to those grievously injured and Rs. 500 for those suffering simple injuries.
Related Stories:
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
