Kadalundi train derailment

Last updated

Kadalundi train disaster
Details
Date22 June 2001 [1]
LocationBridge 924, kadalundi, kozhikode district, Kerala, India
Coordinates 11°07′43″N75°49′53″E / 11.12861°N 75.83139°E / 11.12861; 75.83139
Country India
LineMangalore-Shoranur line
Operator Indian Railways
Incident typeDerailment
CauseBridge collapse
Statistics
Trains1
Deaths59 [2]
Injured241 [2]

The Kadalundi train disaster occurred in India on 22 June 2001, when the Mangalore-Chennai Mail passenger train was crossing over the Kadalundi river. Three carriages fell into the water, with 59 people reported killed or missing, and up to 300 believed injured. The official inquiry concluded that the derailment was caused by one pillar of the 140-year old bridge sinking into the riverbed, following recent heavy rain, though this finding has been challenged.

Contents

Derailment

The Mangalore-Chennai Mail passenger train heading for Chennai was crossing Bridge 924 over the Kadalundi river, connecting Malappuram and Kozhikode districts when six carriages derailed and three fell into the river. [2] [3]

The death toll rose steadily as bodies were retrieved from the wreckage over the course of a week, 59 people were eventually reported as dead or missing, [2] including at least eight women and two children, whilst between 117 and 300 were injured and transported to nearby hospitals. These figures were still challenged by some[ who? ], who said the toll was higher and that a number of people were still missing. [4] It was one of India’s biggest rail crashes in 2001.

The monsoon rains had been normal that year. [5] Officials said that heavy rainfall in the 24 hours before the accident could have contributed to the problems on the bridge. The bridge failed as the heavy train passed over them. The bridge was 140 years old and in a poor state of repair, and it shifted when the line broke, derailing six cars of the train. Three carriages fell into the swollen river. [2]

Rescue parties of over 500 people from nearby towns entered the river to rescue people from the wrecked carriages. Support was also received from fire brigades and the Indian Navy, who sent fifty professional divers to attempt to rescue those trapped in the underwater railway cars.[ citation needed ] Railway officials and family members also arrived rapidly with the aid of a special train.

Inquiry

The inquiry into what actually caused the damage to the bridge was highly controversial[ citation needed ], because government investigators concluded that one of the bridge's pillars had sunk into the river, causing an uneven kink in the track, which snapped when the train hit it. Subsequent private investigations have challenged this theory, pointing out that the bridge is damaged on top of the structure in a way which would not be possible if the pillar was unstable.[ citation needed ] These investigators claim that there was a fault with the train itself or that there were a combination of causes behind the derailment.

Similar accidents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granville rail disaster</span> 1977 train derailment in Australia

The Granville rail disaster occurred on Tuesday 18 January 1977 at Granville, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, when a crowded commuter train derailed, running into the supports of a road bridge that collapsed onto two of the train's passenger carriages. The official inquiry found the primary cause of the crash to be poor fastening of the track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eschede train disaster</span> High-speed train disaster near Eschede, Germany in 1998

On 3 June 1998, an ICE 1 train on the Hannover-Hamburg railway near Eschede in Lower Saxony, Germany derailed and crashed into an overpass that crossed the railroad, which then collapsed onto the train. 101 people were killed and at least 88 were injured, making it the second-deadliest railway disaster in German history after the 1939 Genthin rail disaster, and the world's worst ever high-speed rail disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netravati River</span> River in Karnataka, India

The Netravati River or Netravathi Nadi has its origins at Bangrabalige valley, Yelaneeru Ghat in Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, India. This river flows through the famous pilgrimage place Dharmasthala and is considered one of the holy rivers of India. It merges with the Kumaradhara River at Uppinangadi before flowing to the Arabian Sea, south of Mangalore city. This river is the main source of water to Bantwal and Mangalore. The Netravati railway bridge is one of the known bridges which serve as the gateway to Mangalore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 North Indian Ocean cyclone season</span> Cyclone season in the North Indian ocean

The 2005 North Indian Ocean cyclone season caused much devastation and many deaths in Southern India despite the storms’ weakness. The basin covers the Indian Ocean north of the equator as well as inland areas, sub-divided by the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Although the season began early with two systems in January, the bulk of activity was confined from September to December. The official India Meteorological Department tracked 12 depressions in the basin, and the unofficial Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) monitored two additional storms. Three systems intensified into a cyclonic storm, which have sustained winds of at least 63 km/h (39 mph), at which point the IMD named them.

On 19 October 1987, a train on the Heart of Wales line derailed and fell into the River Towy due to the partial collapse of the Glanrhyd Bridge near Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire. Four people died as a result of the tragedy; the driver and three of the passengers drowned.

The Valigonda rail disaster occurred on 29 October 2005 near the town of Valigonda, south of Hyderabad in the Indian state of Telangana. A flash flood swept away a small rail bridge, and a "Delta Fast Passenger" train traveling on it derailed at the broken section of the line, killing at least 114 people and injuring over 200.

The Rafiganj rail disaster was the derailment of a train on a bridge over the Dhave River in North-Central India, on 10 September 2002. At least 130 people were killed in the accident, which was reportedly due to sabotage by a local Maoist terrorist group, the Naxalites.

The Karanjadi train crash was an accident resulting in derailment of a passenger train at Karanjadi, a village in Maharashtra, India, on 17 June 2004. 20 people were killed and well over 100 injured in the crash, which was the result of heavy monsoon rains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockington rail accident</span> 1986 derailment in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England

In Lockington, England on 26 July 1986, the 09:33 passenger train from Bridlington to Kingston upon Hull on the Hull to Scarborough Line struck a passenger van on a level crossing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season</span> North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season

The 2008 North Indian cyclone season was one of the most disastrous tropical cyclone seasons in modern history, causing more than 140,000 fatalities and over US$15 billion in damage. At the time, it was the costliest season in the North Indian Ocean, until it was surpassed by 2020. The season has no official bounds but cyclones tend to form between April and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean—the Bay of Bengal, which is east of India, and the Arabian Sea, which is west of India. The official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in this basin is the India Meteorological Department (IMD), however the Joint Typhoon Warning Center releases unofficial advisories for military interests. An average of four to six storms form in the North Indian Ocean every season. Cyclones occurring between the meridians 45°E and 100°E are included in the season by the IMD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peruman railway accident</span> 1988 public transit disaster in Kollam, Kerala, India

The Peruman railway accident occurred on 8 July 1988 when a train derailed on the Peruman bridge over Ashtamudi Lake in Kerala, India and fell into the water, killing 105 people. The cause was never established, but was blamed on track alignment and faulty wheels, possibly compounded by failure to notify maintenance workers about the approach of a delayed train that had been making-up time by travelling at excessive speed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jajpur derailment</span>

On 13 February 2009, a passenger train derailment occurred at 19:45 local time near Jajpur in the eastern state of Odisha, India. Nine people were killed and 150 people were injured in the incident. Twelve carriages belonging to the Howrah–Chennai Coromandel Express are believed to have derailed following the train's departure from Jajapur Keonjhar Road station near Jajapur. The cause of the accident is currently unknown.

On 28 May 2010, a Jnaneshwari Express train derailed at about 1 a.m. in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal, India. It was disputed as to whether sabotage or a bomb caused damage on the railway track, which in turn led to the derailment, before an oncoming goods train hit the loose carriages and resulted in the deaths of at least 148 passengers.

The Rometta Marea derailment occurred on Saturday 20 July 2002 in Rometta Marea, part of the Rometta comune in Sicily, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Nilam</span>

Cyclonic Storm Nilam was the deadliest tropical cyclone to directly affect South India since Cyclone Jal in 2010. Originating from an area of low pressure over the Bay of Bengal on October 28, 2012, the system began as a weak depression 550 km (340 mi) northeast of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. Over the following few days, the depression gradually intensified into a deep depression, and subsequently a cyclonic storm by October 30. It made landfall near Mahabalipuram on October 31 as a strong cyclonic storm with peak winds of 85 km/h (55 mph). In Chennai's Marina Beach, strong winds pushed piles of sand ashore and seawater reached nearly a 100 m (330 ft) inland. Schools and colleges in the city remained closed for more than three days.

The 2015 Gujranwala derailment occurred on 2 July 2015 when a military-special train carrying Pakistan Army unit was derailed at Gujranwala due to a bridge collapsing under it. Nineteen people were killed and over 100 were injured.

On 7 June 2021, before dawn, two trains collided near Daharki, in the Ghotki District of the southern province of Sindh in Pakistan, killing at least 65 people and injuring about 150 others. An express train derailed onto the opposite track, and a second express train crashed into the first roughly a minute later. About six to eight bogies were left "completely destroyed".

The 2021 South India floods are a series of floods associated with Depression BOB 05 and a low pressure system that caused widespread disruption across the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and the nearby Sri Lanka. The rainfall started on 1 November in Tamil Nadu. The flooding was caused by extremely heavy downpours from BOB 05, killing at least 41 people across India and Sri Lanka.

References

  1. "India train crash toll rises". BBC News . BBC. 23 June 2001. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "59 Die in India as Rail Bridge Collapses". Agence France-Presse . 24 June 2001. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  3. SRIDHAR, V. "Was it the bridge, or the bogies?". Frontline. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  4. SRIDHAR, V. "Was it the bridge, or the bogies?". Frontline. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. "Weather in India MONSOON SEASON (June to September 2001)*" (PDF). metnet.imd.gov.in. July 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021. Total seasonal monsoon rainfall over the country as a whole was 91% of its long period average. Thus making 2001 as the 13th successive normal (+ 10%) monsoon year as predicted by IMD's long range forecast.