Forensic team collects specimens from Bikaner-Guwahati Express accident spot

A three-member forensic team on Monday morning reached the derailment spot of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express near Mainaguri near West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The team has collected specimens from the mishap spot.

Jalpaiguri: A three-member forensic team on Monday morning reached the spot of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express accident at Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The team came from Kolkata and collected specimens from the mishap spot. A team of senior officials of the Indian Railways led by Chitrakkha Sarkar also reached the accident spot on Monday morning.

The Bikaner-Guwahati Express met with an accident near Maynaguri on the afternoon of January 13, in which 12 bogies were derailed and six bogies got severely damaged. Nine persons died because of the accident and 42 were injured.

The rescue operations were jointly conducted by local people and personnel from the state disaster management department, army, SSB, BSF and NDRF.

The railway's minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, reached the spot on January 14 and ordered a probe by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. The minister also interacted with the injured passengers. Senior officials of Indian Railways are already camping in Alipurduar to conduct a detailed probe into the matter.

The railways department is yet to file a detailed report stating the reasons behind the accident.

However, the probe team is trying to find out whether any error on part of the driver or technical glitches in the engine and coaches were the reasons behind the accident. Sources said that the engine driver probably felt some technical glitches.