At least 200 passengers lost their lives after the Indore-Patna Express derailed in north India near to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday morning. There are as well around 200 injured, and according to the authorities, people is still inside the carriages.
It has already been described as the worst accident of the century in India. Around 14 carriages of the train suddenly roll off the tracks in Pukhrayan, 65 km south of Kanpur city. The causes are still unknown as the authorities inform. They also said that they would be giving compensation for the families of the deceased people in the accident as long as they had the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) insurance.
People is still missing inside the carriages
The train was traveling between the northeastern city of Patna and the central city of Indore when it suddenly derailed causing death to 200 passengers along with 200 injured out of the total 600 people on board. People is still shocked. According to senior railway official Pratap Rai, desperate survivors continue to search for their family members.
Some even tried to enter again into the damaged carriages to find and rescue relatives or their belongings. Many are still missing inside the carriages, but authorities said it is really hard to break the steel.
“It is feared that the number of deaths will rise because rescuers have not been able to access one of the coaches,” said the railway minister Suresh Prabhu.
As well, the minister has ordered a high- level rail safety inquiry into the accident. He said that strict actions would be taken against those responsible for the accident. He is currently in Kanpur to monitor the rescue work alongside minister of state Manoj Sinha.
According to some officials, the conditions of the tracks could have caused the accident, though no conclusion on the matter has been made.
Authorities have also said that the relatives of the victims and injured people will have a Rs 25 lakh compensation, including Rs 10 lakh from the IRCTC insurance cover. As well, Compensation of Rs 50,000 has been announced by Railways for grievously injured passengers.
However, not every injured or dead people will get this compensation since they have to be under the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) insurance cover. And just 128 people out of the 600 passengers have it.
This could be the deadliest train accident of the century for India
As authorities expect the deaths to arise, the accident had already become the deadliest rail tragedy since 2010, when 140 people lost their lives in West Bengal. Among the injured 78 remain in the hospital, and four are now in a critical condition. The words tragedy of the century for India.
The words tragedy of the century for India. The worst accident of their history could be when a train derailed off a bridge and fell into a river in 1981 killing more than 500 people in Bihar state.
India’s rail system is one of the largest in the world. It runs 11,000 trains a day, mobilizing about 20 million people. However, there are critics about its safety since it does not receive the proper maintenance.
Source: Economic Times India