Train collision kills five in eastern India

[News_Editor]

Train collision kills five in eastern India

2012-01-12 09:06:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

JHARKHAND, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- Five people were killed on early Wednesday morning when a passenger train collided with a freight train in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, railway officials said. Several others were injured.

The accident happened at around 5:50 a.m. local time when the Brahmaputra Mail was on its way to New Delhi from Dibrugarh city. Officials said the train was passing through Karonpuroto station when it crashed into a stationary freight train which had rolled back from another track.

Police and railway officials said five passengers were killed as a result of the crash, which caused the passenger train to derail. Nine other people, including a three-year-old child, were injured and taken to area hospitals.

"If somebody is found responsible or careless, stern action will be taken against that railway employee," Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena told the Press Trust of India (PTI). Six railway employees, including the driver, assistant driver and the guard of the freight train, were later suspended for alleged negligence.

India's railroad network is the fourth largest in the world and carries more than 14 million passengers and over a million tonnes of freight daily. But accidents are common, mainly as a result of poor maintenance and human error.

In November 2011, seven people were and around 30 others were injured when two cars of the Howrah-Dehradun Express train caught fire between the Nimiyaghat and Parasnath railway stations in the Giridih district of Jharkhand state.

And in September 2011, ten people were killed and more than 70 others were injured when an Electric Multiple Unit train collided with another passenger train which was waiting for a signal in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Before that, in July 2011, a total of 70 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured when a passenger train bound for the Indian capital of New Delhi derailed in Uttar Pradesh state. Just hours later, another passenger train derailed in western Assam state, injuring around 50 people.

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