One more dies in North-East Express accident, death toll rises to 5

The fifth death in the North-East Express accident was recorded on Sunday. The passenger, a resident of Cooch Behar was undergoing treatment in AIIMS, Patna. Around 100 passengers were injured and are currently admitted in various nearby hospitals.

Buxar:The toll in the derailment of the North-East Express in Raghunathpur in Bihar's Buxar district has increased to five after an injured passenger from West Bengal's Cooch Behar succumbed to her injuries in the AIIMS, Patna on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Reena Kumari Verma, resident of Cooch Behar. Reena, her husband Muktinath and two other family members, Anuiya and Santosh were traveling in North-East Express when the derailment took place near Raghunathpur station in Danapur division of East Central Railway on October 11. Reena and three others of her family were admitted to AIIMS, Patna. Her husband was discharged after treatment and the two others are currently undergoing treatment.

During the incident, 21 coaches of the express train derailed and four persons died on the spot while over 100 passengers were injured. The injured were taken to the nearby hospitals. Among whom, Reena who was admitted to AIIMS, Patna died yesterday. There are still many passenger who are undergoing treatment here.

A preliminary probe revealed that the accident was caused due to some fault in the railway track. Railway officials also pointed out that the train, which was travelling at a high speed, was halted by applying brakes. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the deceased families and assured help from the state government.

The incident came a few months after 288 passengers died and more than 1000 were injured in the horrific triple train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha's Balasore district on June 2, due to faulty connections in the automated signaling system.