The Kanchenjunga Express was hit by a goods train near New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal, killed nine people, and reached Sealdah in Kolkata around 3:15 am on Tuesday. One of the women who was traveling on the same train recalled her experience and said it was a nightmare for her.
Recalling the terrifying experience
One of the passengers told the media that it was the mercy of God that she was alive today and talking to them. She couldn’t narrate in words what she had gone through.
A passenger from the B2 coach told the media that she frequently traveled by train for her business in North Bengal. But after the incident, she was scared to do so.
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How did the train collide?
On Monday, at 8:55 AM, a goods train collided near the end of Sealdh-bound Kanchenjunga Express near Rangapani, around 10 km from New Jalpaiguri. The four coaches of the Kanchanjunga Express, including the general compartment, two parcel coaches, and the guard van were affected, and five coaches of the goods train were derailed.
Many trains diverted
The Kanchenjunga Express, which had 19 unaffected coaches, resumed its journey toward Kolkata with 1,293 passengers around noon on Monday. Sabyasachi De, Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, said that the upline was cleared by around 5:40 PM on Tuesday and the first goods train passed around 8 pm, while the down line was cleared at around 7:30 AM.
Several trains, including the Rajadhani Express and Vande Bharat Express, had been diverted through Bagdogra and Aluabari on Monday as coaches remained strewn on the tracks at the accident site.
The Death toll
The death toll in the train accident near New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal remained at nine, but hospital authorities said they could not confirm the exact number. The senior doctor of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital said that nine people had passed away by Monday evening. One of the bodies had a leg missing and there was a separate amputated leg. Authorities are not sure whether they belong to the same person or not.
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Human error resulted in the accident
Jaya Verma Sinha, the chairperson of the Railway Board, said on Monday that the driver of the goods train had disregarded the signal. Railway officials said that a combination of signaling faults on the tracks before the New Jalpaiguri station was a human error by the driver of the freight train and was likely to have led to a deadly collision.
About Author
This Article has been written by Ms Vijaya Pramodini SK, an aspiring journalist, who is currently dedicated to her studies in Journalism and communication. With a keen eye for authenticity, she strives to uncover and present the real facts, embodying the principles of ethical journalism.
