Train derails in Uttar Pradesh, driver critical

LUCKNOW - A driver of the Rohilkhand Express was critically injured after the train derailed in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanshiram Nagar district Friday morning, police said.

The engine and two coaches of the train, heading to Lucknow from Kasganj in Kanshiram Nagar, derailed near the Nagaria railway station and fell into flood waters in the area.

“The driver of the train was critically injured but no passenger received serious injuries,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Jitendra Srivastava told IANS on telephone from the district town, some 300 km from here.

“The driver is being treated at a hospital and his condition is stated to be serious,” he added.

Government Railway Police inspector Danveer Singh said: “The Ganga river, which flows near the accident site, is in spate…Rail tracks in the area have been submerged in the flood waters.”

“It appears that the flood waters damaged the rail tracks, owing to which the accident took place,” he added.

According to police, the co-driver of the train is missing. “We are yet to trace him…Chances of his survival are bleak…We believe he has drowned in the Ganga floods,” Srivastava said.

Earlier, police inspector M.P. Singh Raghav said the co-driver managed to escape from the accident spot.