At least 34 people were killed and 25 injured, 15 of them seriously, when four bogies of Karwar-Mumbai holiday special train derailed and telescoped over the engine in the first major accident on the Konkan Railway network on Sunday night, the police said on Monday.
The accident occurred at about 2200 hour IST between Vaibhavwadi and Rajapur stations in Sindhudurg district when the engine of the train dashed against a huge boulder, which had fallen on the track. The train came to a grinding halt and the engine derailed. Under the impact, four bogies telescoped over each other.
Almost simultaneously, there was a landslide and huge boulders and mud came crashing down from the surrounding hillock and spread over the telescoped bogies. Several people were still trapped inside and rescue operations were on, the police in Sindhudurg told PTI.
A contingent of army from Goa joined rescue operations, they added.
Six of those killed have been identified. They are Sunil Chary from Panjim, Chandrashekhar Rajashekhar Dalvi from Bangalore, Handru Jackson D'cruz from Madgaon, Ramakant Rane, a police constable from Mumbai, Sarita Sunil Gawas and Shreya Gawas from Goa, according to the Sindhudurg Police.
The injured were admitted to hospitals in Kankavli an Oras in Sindhudurg district. To and fro services on the route have been suspended and efforts were being made to shift the injured to hospitals in Goa, Konkan Railway authorities told PTI in Mumbai.