New Delhi, June 17 (UNI) Eight people have died so far after the Agartala-Sealdah Kanchanjungha Express met with an accident on Monday in North Bengal on being hit by a goods train. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of deceased.
A compensation of Rs 50,000 for each of those injured in the incident was also announced by the PMO.
Driver of the goods train and guard of the passenger express are among the eight dead declared so far in the train accident in Siliguri district. Chairman & CEO Railway Board Jaya Varma Sinha, confirmed that eight people have died, including three railway officials and five others, in this accident.
“Prima facie suggests human error as the cause. The first indications suggest that this is a case of signal disregard. Kavach needs to proliferate, as planned for West Bengal,” Sinha said.
Meanwhile, in a social media post on X, the Prime Minister said, “The railway accident in West Bengal is saddening. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover as the earliest. Spoke to officials and took stock of the situation. Rescue operations are underway to assist the affected.”
The PMO also posted on X: “PM @narendramodi has announced that an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased in the railway mishap in West Bengal. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.”
The Prime Minister in his post also informed: “The Railways Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw Ji is on the way to the site of the mishap as well.”
A medical team from the Indian Army reached the spot to assist the civilian authorities, including many NGOs.
The NDRF and DMG began the rescue operations earlier. The evacuation was, however, affected due to inclement weather. The rescuers were looking for any people stuck inside the mangled bogies. The first responders were locals though.
A report from north Bengal said that some 41 passengers have been wounded. Most of them were admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.Among the dead were the guard of Kanchanjunga Express Ashish Dey — the first one to be identified.
