Safety goes off track, sends shivers down spine of travellers

A probe focusing on lapses in signalling or operational procedures has been launched

- RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR

THE train accident involving the Kanchenjunga Express near New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal belies the railways" claims on a safe train journey. At least nine passengers were killed and 40 others injured when a goods train smashed into Kanchenjunga Express from the rear.

This is the fifth such accident in the last three years. Speaking to this newspaper, some witnesses to the accident site described the scene as heartwrenching and chaotic with three overturned coaches. Passengers were desperately seeking help amid the wreckage.

According to a passenger, the train stopped abruptly with a sharp jerk accompanied by a loud sound. Upon disembarking, he saw that the goods train hit their rake from behind.

"We were having tea when the train stopped suddenly with a jerk," he said. A pregnant woman, traveling with her family, said she fell off her seat upon impact. "It felt like an earthquake. It took us some time to collect ourselves and understand what happened," she said, sitting with her family in one of the air-conditioned sleeper coaches.