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12 killed in AP train mishap

Shireen in Hyderabad

The death toll in the Andhra Pradesh train accident has gone up to 12, according to unofficial reports reaching Hyderabad. As many as 60 passengers were injured in the mishap, only a few of them seriously.

But the South Central Railway authorities confirmed that six passengers died when the Hyderabad-bound Godavari Express derailed between Warangal and Kazipet at 0315 IST today.

Andhra Pradesh Minister for School Education Devineni Venkatramana was among the dead, according to the officials.

The authorities do not rule out 'more casualties' as several passengers are still reported 'missing'. The victims could be trapped in the worst-affected air-conditioned first-class coach, they said.

Most of the passengers in the 24-coach train were jolted out of their sleep as 14 coaches went off the rails. Five of the derailed coaches overturned.

The first class air-conditioned coach was the worst hit. Out of the 17 passengers in this coach, five died. Six others managed to escape with minor injuries.

According to reports, the trapped passengers in this coach had been crying for help till 0630 hours. Subsequently, no cries or shrieks were heard.

"It will take some more time to break open the coach and take out the passengers. We do not know whether they are dead or alive," said an official.

An Indian Administrative Service officer, Priyadarshi Dash was among those rescued from the ill-fated coach.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has visited the accident site and called on the injured at the MGM hospital in Warangal.

Following the accident, traffic on the Kazipet-Secunderabad section of the SCR has been hit. The Hyderabad-Tirupati Krishna Express has been cancelled. The Hyderabad-New Delhi Andhra Pradesh Express was rescheduled to leave at 1600 hours today.

The Hyderabad-Howrah East Coast Express, Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express and Konark Express trains have been diverted to their destinations via the Bibinagar-Nadikude line in Nalgonda district.

The Guntur-Secunderabad Golconda Express, Vijayawada-Secunderabad Satavahana Express, and Tirupati-Secunderabad Krishna Express trains were terminated at Kazipet and the passengers transported by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses to Hyderabad.

The sources said that the ill-fated train was travelling at 90kph at the time of the mishap and the driver applied the emergency brakes after he heard a loud bang from the AC coach.

The stranded passengers of the train who were brought to the city by a special train told reporters at the Secunderabad railway station that around 3.15 am they heard a loud noise. "It was around 3 or 3.15 am when most of us were fast asleep that we felt a big jolt and heard a loud noise. We were thrown out of out seats with the impact. As we woke up, we found that our bogies had derailed and there was darkness all around," one of the survivors said.

The passengers complained that the relief and rescue operations commenced at the accident site three to four hours after the accident. "The relief teams and doctors came only around 7 am or so. We were taken to Ghanpur from where we were transported to the city in State Transport Corporation buses," one of the survivors said.

The passengers felt that if the rescue and relief operations had been started a couple of hours earlier, some of the trapped commuters in the air-conditioned coach could have been saved.

Additional reportage: UNI

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