Moynaguri/ Siliguri:The death toll in the Bikaner- Guwahati Express accident had risen to nine and the number of injuries crossing 100, according to the general manager of North Frontier Rail, Anshul Gupta. The condition of 15 injured persons is said to be critical.
Death toll in Bikaner Express accident rises to nine The accident took place on Thursday afternoon near Moynaguri in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who reached the accident spot on Friday morning, admitted that some technical glitches in the engine of the train were the main reason behind the accident. However, he ruled out that problems prevailed in the coaches of the train that derailed.
While addressing the media persons, the Railways Minister said, "I have personally supervised everything. It seems that sudden technical glitches in the engine of the train were the main reasons behind the accident. The damaged equipment would be collected and examined. The Commissioner of Railway Safety will start its probe soon. However, I do not feel that there were problems with the railway coaches that got derailed. I am in constant touch with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who is personally monitoring everything."
Meanwhile, rescue operations that got halted on Thursday night because of the dense fog started on Friday with the first light of dawn.
The local BJP Lok Sabha member and the Union minister of state, John Barla reached the accident spot earlier in the day. "All the injured passengers have been rescued," he said. The joint rescue operations were conducted by the railway department, NDRF, and the state disaster management department.
Meanwhile, two ministers of the Rajasthan government, namely state disaster management department minister, Gobindoram Meghwal, and state power minister, Bhanwar Singh reached the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri on Friday morning to enquire about the health condition of the injured passengers, namely Ishwar Ram and Dharmendra Chowdhury.
Later, the two Rajasthan ministers also visited the Jalpaiguri and Moynaguri hospitals and enquired about the injured passengers admitted and also visited the accident spot.
Meanwhile, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) has arranged 40 buses for the passengers who were traveling by the Bikaner- Guwahati Express so that they can reach the nearby Cooch Behar and Dhupguri stations.
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