Howrah-Mumbai Express derailed in Jharkhand, Two killed, 20 injured
Of the 18 coaches that derailed in the Jharkhand train accident, 16 were passenger coaches, one power car, and one pantry car, an official said.
JAMSHEDPUR- At least two people were killed and 20 injured, after Howrah-Mumbai Express derailed near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand state on Tuesday.
The accident happened at around the same time a goods train coming from the opposite side derailed, possibly colliding with the passenger train when it passed by.
Two people were killed and 20 others injured after at least 18 coaches of a train bound for Mumbai derailed in Jharkhand this morning, railway sources said.
“There was another derailment of a goods train nearby, but it was unclear if the two accidents occurred concurrently,” said railway officials.
Of the 18 coaches that derailed in the Jharkhand train accident, 16 were passenger coaches, one power car, and one pantry car, an official said.
Rescue and relief operations are underway, officials said.
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An average of 20,000 people died each year between 2017 and 2021 in rail accidents, according to official records.
Defective tracks, poor maintenance and old signalling kit combined with human error were the main cause of derailments, a report by India’s top audit authority said.
Last year, nearly 300 people were killed when a passenger train and a stationary goods train collided, with the derailed compartments then striking another fast-moving passenger service.
India’s worst-ever rail accident occurred in 1981, when a cyclone blew a train off its tracks and into a river in Bihar state, leaving 800 dead and more than 100 injured.
Indian Railways, the world’s fourth-largest rail network, runs some 14,000 trains daily with 8,000 locomotives over a vast system of tracks some 64,000 kilometres (40,000 miles) long.
The trains carry more than 21 million people each day.
