West Begal Train Accident Death Toll Rises

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KOLKATA, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- West Bengal on Monday once again woke up to the call of another train accident, this time near Saithia in the Birbhum District of West Bengal. As per latest reports, 60 people have died and at least 86 people have already been taken to hospital. The accident took place at around 2 a.m. on Monday morning when the Uttar Banga Express, that was coming from New Cooch Behar and heading towards Sealdah hit the Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express which was standing at the Saithia station.

Among the dead are the driver and guards of the Uttar Banga Express and Vananchal Express. Driver of Uttar Banga Express M C Dey, and guard of Vananchal Express A. Mukherjee died in the accident. The fate of the assistant driver N K Mandal is yet not known. Some of the injured who have been rushed to the hospital are said to be in critical condition. The death toll might rise higher up as bodies are still being rescued from the sight of the train accident.

The two general class bogies of the Vananchal Express are feared to be the most affected by the train accident. Along with these two coaches the luggage van and the guard van of the train suffered major damages. A local media source reported that the impact of the collision was so great that one of the bogeys that got detached from the train was thrown up on the nearby over bridge.

To tackle the situation and speed up the rescue work, The National Disaster Management forces including the police and the Border Security Forces have been deployed at the site of the train accident. As per reports, at present 160 jawans along with seven Army officers have been sent for the rescue operation.