Vasco Da Gama-Patna express accident leaves 3 dead: All we know so far

Author: Dimple Shah

The Indian Railways and the common Indian commuter have been hit by another accident after thirteen coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna express jumped the rails near Manikpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

At the time of publishing, no comments or details had come from the Ministry of Railways or Railways Minister Piyush Goyal's twitter handles.

Here's all we know about the accident so far:

  1. At least three people were dead and nine left injured after thirteen coaches of the Vasco Da Gama Patna express jumped the rails.
  2. Confirming the casualties, Chitrakoot SP Pratap Gopendra Singh said a father-son duo from Bettiah district of Bihar died on the spot while the third person died at a hospital.
  3. Of those injured, two were serious and admitted to district hospital, Chitrakoot. Seven with minor injuries are being treated at Manikpur," Singh said.
  4. According to news agency ANI, Indian Railways PRO Anil Saxena said that helpline numbers have been set up and that rescue and relief operations are underway.
  5. The Patna-bound Vasco Da Gama Express (12741) derailed at 4:18 am, soon after leaving platform number 2 of the Manikpur railway station in Chitrakoot district, about 250 km from Lucknow, he said.
  6. According to ADG (Law and Order), Anand Kumar, prima facie it appears that fractured railway track is the cause of the accident as per local assessment.
  7. Providing a breakup of the derailed coaches, North Central Railway PRO Amit Malviya said that the coaches that jumped off the rails were coaches numbered S3-S11, two general coaches, and two extra coaches. "The injured have been rushed to the hospital and officials have left for the spot. Relief operations are underway," Malviya said.
  8. He further said that soon after the accident, a medical train reached the spot and by 5:20 am, an accident relief train was dispatched for the spot. The divisional railway manager (DRM), Allahabad, has already reached the spot while the General Manager, NCR, is on his way, he said.
  9. In the aftermath of the derailment, movement of trains was disrupted on the Patna-Allahabad route.
  10. The train derailment in Chitrakoot comes less than 12 hours after a bolero had collided with a passenger train near Lucknow killing four and injuring two.