Bikaner-Guwahati train derails; 5 die

45 injured as 12 coaches derail early Thursday morning.

Kolkata/ New Delhi/Guwahati: At least five people were killed and more than 45 injured when 12 coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train derailed and some overturned near Domohani in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Thursday, an official said.

The accident occurred around 5 p.m. in an area under Alipurduar division of Northeast Frontier Railway, an NFR spokesperson said in Guwahati.

“Five passengers have died so far. We recovered three bodies from the accident site while two people died in hospital,” Jalpaiguri District Magistrate Moumita Godara Basu said, adding at least 45 passengers were injured in the accident. “Since some of them are in a critical condition, the death toll may go up,” she said.

Moumita said rescuers were thoroughly searching each coach for survivors and bodies through darkness and thick fog.

“On getting info about tragic train accident near Mainaguri (WB), troops of 169 BN @BSF_Guwahati Ftr responded quickly and joined rescue operation with Prahris & medical team, working untiringly to help the trapped and injured people from the derailed coaches,” Border Security Force Guwahati tweeted. —(PTI)