Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw did a detailed in-person inspection of the derailment site near New Domohani railway station situated in the Alipurduar division of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
Accident details
Twelve coaches of train number 15633 derailed between New Domohani and New Maynaguri stations ( KM marker 42/4-5) between New Jalpaiguri-New Cooch Behar. The derailment happened on a double line electrified section of Alipurduar Division of NFR at about 1700 hours on January 13,2022. However, the derailment did not block traffic on the railway line in the opposite direction (DN line). The derailed coaches included one luggage van, one general and 10 sleeper coaches.
According to an official statement from NFR, nine passengers lost their life, 10 were grievously injured while 26 received minor injuries in the mishap. A high level enquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety has been ordered to find out the root cause.
Rescue and relief
Passengers,were evacuated by 2200 hours on Thursday, January 13, 2022. A special train carrying reached Guwahati with stranded passengers at 755 hours on Friday morning. Railway Officials along with the accident relief train from New Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar were immediately rushed to the derailment site. Anshul Gupta, General Manager, NFR arrived at the site just after midnight.
Ex-Gratia Payments
According to an official statement, Indian Railways (IR) has arranged money to make ex gratia payments (as announced by Railway Board) to passengers as follows:-
The kin of nine persons who died in the mishap are being paid @ Rs 5 lakh each totalling Rs 45 lakh. Those with grievous injuries, 10 in number are being paid @ Rs 1 lakh each, totalling Rs 10 lakh. Persons with minor injuries, 26 in number are being paid @ Rs 25000 each, a total of Rs 6.5 lakh .
Speaking to news agency, ANI, Rajiv Jain ADG PR, Indian Railways said “Out of the 9 deceased, 5 have been identified and their families have been given Rs 5 lakh each. We’ve also given Rs 1 lakh to the 10 grievously injured persons and Rs 25000 each to the 26 minor injured.”
Rail Minister at accident site
Union Rail Minister reached New Domohani station just after 930 hours and immediately proceeded towards the accident site.
He expressed his deep condolence towards the families of the deceased. He also visited the hospitals to comfort the families of the 36 injured passengers deceased admitted to Super Specialty Hospital, Jalpaiguri, North Bengal Medical College and Maynaguri Rural Hospital.
In addition, he also inspected the under gear of the locomotive (WAP4-22375 belonging to Gonda Loco Shed) of the derailed train.
The Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was constantly monitoring the situation and that he was in constant touch with the Prime Minister. Restoration work is being done on war footing for normalization of train operations by NFR.Some of the derailed coaches have already been re-railed.
Helplines
Helpline were set up at several stations as follows:-along the route of the train including
Guwahati- 03612731622 / 23,
Katihar- 06452230692, 9002041952, 9608815880
New Jalpaiguri- 9002041951, 9002041955, Alipurduar- 03564234206 / 234216 / 255190.
Malda BSNL- 03512-266000
Howrah BSNL- 033- 26402241/2242/2243 and 033-2641-3660
Sealdah BSNL- 033-2350-3535/3537
Bhagalpur- 7766801157
Mokama – 9341506022
Kiul – 9341506032
Jhajha – 9341504997
Ara – 9341505981
Danapur- 06115-232398/ 07759070004
Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn- 05412-253232
Sonpur – 06158-221645
Naugachia- 8252912018
Barauni- 8252912043
Khagaria -8252912030
Train services affected
Some trains were diverted through alternative routes. These included
12346 Guwahati-Howrah Saraighat Exp,
12505 Kamakhya- Anand Vihar Express,
12520 Kamakhya-LTT AC Express,
15632 Guwahati Barmer Express,
20502 New Delhi Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express, 13173 Sealdah – Agartala Kanchanjunga Express, 15910 Lalgarh – Dibrugarh Avadh Assam Express, 12507 Trivandrum -Silchar Express,
22450 New Delhi – Guwahati Express and
13147 Sealdah-Bamanhat Uttarbanga Express of January 13,2022 and 13148 Bamanhat – Sealdah Uttarbanga Express of January 14, was short -terminated/short- originated at New Jalpaiguri.
Cancellations on January 14,2022
15704 /15703 Bongaigaon – New Jalpaiguri- Bongaigaon Intercity express
07525 /07526 New Jalpaiguri-New Bongaigaon-New Jalpaiguri DEMU,
07541/07542 Siliguri-Dhubri Intercity Express, 15767/15768 Alipurduar Jn- siliguri Intercity Express 15467 / 15468 Siliguri Jn – Bamanhat- Siliguri jn Intercity Express,
05717 / 05713 Bamanhat – Siliguri DEMU,
07526 / 07525 New Bongaigaon-Siliguri Jn DEMU 15777 / 15778 New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar Jn-New Jalpaiguri Tourist Express of 14th January, 2022 were cancelled.
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