Kuneru train derailment କୁନେରୁ ରେଳ ଦୁର୍ଘଟଣା | |
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Details | |
Date | 21 January 2017 11:00 p.m. local time (16:30 UTC, 21 January) |
Location | Kuneru, Orissa |
Coordinates | 18°57′59″N83°26′25″E / 18.96639°N 83.44028°E |
Country | India |
Line | Part of Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line |
Operator | East Coast Railway zone |
Incident type | Derailment |
Cause | Under investigation |
Statistics | |
Trains | 1 |
Passengers | ~600 |
Deaths | 41 |
Injured | 68 |
On January 21, 2017, the Hirakhand Express 18448, a scheduled passenger train from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar, derailed near the village of Kuneru in Rayagada, Orissa, India, killing 41 people and injuring 68 others. The train was carrying 600 passengers. [1]
The diesel engine of the train and nine cars derailed around 11 p.m. local time. [2] Three cars derailed with enough force to leave the roadbed entirely, [3] and some collided with a freight train on a parallel track. [4] According to a district fire department official, some of the casualties were a result of a stampede within the train as passengers tried to flee after the crash. [5] Emergency teams worked intensively to locate and rescue survivors from the crash, said the National railway spokesman Anil Saxena. [6]
The first rescue workers reached the site of the crash 40 minutes after the train derailed. [5] Rescue and recovery work continued until the next day, while repairs to the track were completed by the morning of 23 January. [3] Indian Railways said that it would pay ₹200,000 to the families of those killed in the crash and ₹50,000 to injured passengers, [5] while the government of Odisha announced that it planned to pay ₹500,000 to families of the dead. [7]
According to Orissa's then-Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, investigation of the accident, in conjunction with India's Railway Safety Commissioner, started on January 22. [2] Director General of Police K.B. Singh said there was no evidence of sabotage of the track involved, though unnamed railroad officials had initially hypothesized such. [2]