In an early morning tragedy, Ernakulam-bound Bengaluru-Ernakulam Intercity Express (Train No. 12677) derailed in Belagondapalli near Anekal in city’s outskirts on Friday, leading to the death of 12 passengers.
Two compartments of the train collided, causing the loss of lives.
Over 100 passengers are said to have been injured in the accident of which many are in critical stage. However, according to official version, the number of deaths is 10 while 18 were injured. The dead include five male passengers, three female passengers and a 12-year-old boy. Injured passengers include two citizens of Poland. Five people among the injured are said to be in a critical condition.
A picture shows the displaced railway track. A child and an adult injured in the Bengalur-Ernakulam train accident. People in a damaged compartment being rescued.
Nine coaches were derailed and collided one another, as the train chugged over the track, leading to the accident at 7.45 am. Speaking to Citizen Matters, Lakshminarayana Acharya, a resident of Anekal, said that railway track repair work was going on the same railway route during last few days. The engine and the first two coaches of the Ernakulam-bound train passed without harm, but the next seven coaches behind them tilted and fell. It led to slipping of a piece of track resulting in the collusion of ninth and tenth coaches, causing major damage to the passengers. The derailed coaches are said to be D-8, D-9, D-10, D-11, two AC Chair Cars and two unreserved coaches.
Injured in the train accident being shifted to hospital.
Official versions say a boulder that fell on the track caused the derailment. The train had departed Bangalore Central Railway Station at 6.15 am. The accident site is near Hosur, 15 km away from Tamil Nadu border. Ambulances and equipment were brought from Bengaluru as well as Tamil Nadu to help the injured and to lift the shattered coaches.
The Hindu reports that Nagercoil Express coming towards Bangalore City, which was near the accident spot, will now operate as a special train to Ernakulam and will take passengers from the Bangalore-Ernakulam Inter city Express. Coimbatore-Kurla (Train no. 11014) which left Coimbatore on Friday morning is being diverted from Salem. It will go via Tirupattur and Bangarpet.
Rescue teams were put to work to help the injured passengers who were cramped in the mangled compartments. The injured were admitted to the Anekal General Hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya and other nearby city hospitals for treatment.
Villagers watching the derailed train and rescue procedures.
List of the dead in Hosur train accident
Punidhavathi Palaniyappa (61)
Vipin Velayudhan (23)
Ayesha Zaheer Khan (30)
K R George (70)
Naseem Khan (60)
Aman Suresh (13), a boy from Thrissur
E Antony (57)
Irsha Manaf (24)Venugopal C R(54)
Names of some of the injured in Hosur train accident
Sharmila (35) from RT Nagar
Bhaskar (28) Sultanpalya
Selvaraj (58) BTM Layout, 1st Stage
Vamadevan (70) Thrissur
Mohandas (47) from Kunnamkulam
Karmel (35) a resident of Poland
A survivor, Rohini Hariharan, was quoted by The Hindu as having seen people hanging from the train.
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has tweeted that he has “ordered an enquiry to fix responsibility and for corrective action to prevent such unfortunate accidents. Monitoring action regularly.” He has announced an ex gratia compensation of Rs 2 lakhs for the families of the dead, Rs 50,000 for grievously injured passengers and Rs 20,000 for people with minor injuries. The Minister is expected to visit the accident spot today. Bangalore North MP DV Sadananda Gowda visited the spot.
Helpline numbers for Hosur train accident
Help desk – Bangalore City: 080 – 22371166/ 22156553/ 22156554
Control room numbers: 9731666751; 22942666.
Ernakulam junction: 0484-2100317, 0813699773, 09539336040
Thiruvananthapuram: 0471-2321205, 2321237, 09746769960
Ernakulam town: 0484-2398200
Aluva: 0484-2624143
Trichur: 0487-2424148, 2430060
At accident site: 9448090599
Pictures in this story have been sourced from the Whatsapp group of people travelling from Anekal to Bengaluru city.
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The emergency service could not reach the accident spot on time because of inaccessibility of the site. Railway lines in the state are somewhat isolated. The solution is to build roads parallel to rail lines. At least if there was road within 1 km to the railway line help could have reached faster.
Other measures to avoid accidents, manual inspection of rail every 4 hours, more thorough mechanical maintenance of coaches and assurance of its ability to run at the rated speed