In a fateful incident unfolded in Buxar of Bihar, as many as four people have died. At the same time, around 80 were reportedly injured after as many as 21 coaches of the North East Express derailed near Raghunathpur station of Buxar in Bihar.
According to the reports, the incident occurred around 9.35 PM when train no. 12506 bound for Kamakhya railway station from New Delhi met an obstruction and derailed. Learning about the incident, teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), district officials, railway officials and residents rushed to the derailment site and started the rescue work. An Accident Relief Medical Van was also dispatched to the incident site.
#WATCH | Bihar: Rescue operation by NDRF underway after 21 coaches of the North East Express train derailed near Raghunathpur station in Buxar pic.twitter.com/7mEvv9f6SE
— ANI (@ANI) October 11, 2023
Briefing about the incident, Tarun Prakash, General Manager of the East Central Railway, informed that as many as 21 train carriers en-route to Guwahati have been derailed, with four casualties. Earlier, another senior official of the East Central Railway Zone, Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Birendra Kumar, said that the local and district administration are rescuing the passengers while critically injured have been referred to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna.
Meanwhile, reacting to the incident, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while offering his deepest condolences to the deceased, said that the root cause of the derailment will be investigated. He further informed that a train to ferry passengers for the onward journey had reached the derailment site and should start the onward journey soon.
#WATCH | Bihar: Visuals from the Raghunathpur station in Buxar, where 21 coaches of the North East Express train derailed last night
Restoration work is underway. pic.twitter.com/xcbXyA2MyG
— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2023
Evacuation and rescue are complete. All the coaches checked. Passengers will soon be shifted to a special train for their onward journey, informed the railway minister in a post on X.
Evacuation and rescue complete. All coaches checked.
Passengers will be shifted to a special train soon for onward journey.— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 11, 2023
In a Twitter post, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the quick recovery of those injured. A relief train has already departed Raghunathpur from Kamakhya Junction to bring back stranded passengers of Train 12506.”
My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the quick recovery of those injured.
A relief train has already departed from Raghunathpur for Kamakhya Junction to bring back the stranded passengers of Train 12506. @AshwiniVaishnaw @RailMinIndia https://t.co/LW88vzZa65
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 12, 2023
Meanwhile, Tejaswi Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, in a post, informed that ” the train en-route to Kamakhya from New Delhi has met with a sad accident near Buxar, we have been in constant touch with officials of Health department, SDRF, NDRF. We have alerted the hospitals of Ara, Buxar and Patna, while personnel of Bihar police and SDRF have been dispatched to the site. Our priority is to save as many lives as we can.”
दिल्ली से कामख्या जा रही ट्रेन बक्सर के पास दुःखद ट्रेन दुर्घटना हुई है। हमारी स्वास्थ्य विभाग, आपदा विभाग के अधिकारियों एवं ज़िलाधिकारियों से बात हुई है। बक्सर, आरा, पटना के अस्पतलों को अलर्ट जारी किया है। बिहार पुलिस बल व SDRF को भी मौके पर भेजा है।
हमारी प्राथमिकता… pic.twitter.com/O28vaco3rQ— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) October 11, 2023
It is to be noted that the Raghunathpur incident occurred just over a few months after the horrific incident unfolded in the Balasore district of Odisha, which claimed the lives of around 300 people. The incident stoked a major debate over the negligence of a few railway officials suspected to be behind the tragic incident, following which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started an investigation into the matter.
