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Mandor Express derails: 5 dead, 20 injured

by Mritunjay | November 13, 2009 at 07:54 pm

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In a unfortunate accident at 0130 hrs IST on Saturday, all 15 coaches of Delhi-bound Mandor Express derailed near Bans ka Phatak, about 40 km from Jaipur. At least five people were killed and twenty injured as the speeding train derailed causing Five AC, seven sleeper and three general coaches overturned.

A relief train has left New Delhi for the accident site while 25 buses have been deployed to carry the people to Jaipur, Delhi and Agra.

The railway personnel are using hydraulic cutters to cut through the overturned coaches in a bid to rescue the trapped personnel.

November has been a month full of accidents for Indian Railways:

Nov.11 - Mysore-Ajmer Express derailed near Pune, as a result five passengers were seriously injured.
Nov.4 - Gandhidham Bangalore Express derailed at Dombivli near Mumbai. Four of the total 11 coaches which derailed were heavily damaged. 12 passengers were reportedly injured in the incident, however no deaths were reported.
Nov.2 - Gorakhpur-Ayodhya passenger train collided with a truck killing 14 and injuring scores.

A railway personnel informed about diversion of 24 and cancellation of 2 trains as a result of the accident.

Railways have opened Helplines for people to get information about the accident:

Jodhpur Helpline no.: 0291-2636683, 0291-2002964

Jaipur Helpline no.: 0141-2201567

BSNL toll free no.: 18001806131

More details are still awaited.

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Mritunjay

at 20:16 on November 13th, 2009

Update:

Three of the dead have been identified by now -

While three of the dead have been identified as Sonal Singh (18) of New Delhi, S Kumar of Jodhpur and Ujjawal Vadhwa (27) of Jaipur, three bodies are yet to be identified.Ninenteen of the injured, including a New Zealand national Ana Elizabeth, have been admitted to the SMS Hospital here.

Mritunjay

at 21:26 on November 13th, 2009

AFP reports (10:30 AM):

A railway official says at least nine people have been killed when a speeding train derailed while traveling through western India.

Vipin Kumar Pande, superintendent of police, says more than 80 people were injured in the derailment early Saturday near Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state.

Pande says the accident occurred when the train driver suddenly applied the brakes because of poor visibility in the region.

Accidents are common on India's sprawling rail network, one of the world's largest, with most blamed on poor maintenance.