63 killed, 250 injured as Delhi-bound train derails

At least 63 passengers were killed and about 250 injured when 15 bogies of a speeding Delhi-bound Kalka Mail derailed here today -- the second major train mishap in a week in Uttar Pradesh.

The derailment took place at 12.20 PM when the packed train from Howrah reached near Malwa station, nearly 120 kms from Lucknow.

Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal, who rushed to the accident site, said the cause for the derailment was being ascertained.

According to preliminary investigations, the signals were functioning normally and the fish plates on the tracks were intact. To a question, Mittal said the driver was not drunk. "I can't comment," he said on being asked whether he suspected mischief.

"15 bogies of the train derailed out of which 10 are in bad shape. The exact cause of the derailment is being ascertained. The Commissioner of Railway Safety has been directed to probe the incident," General Manager, North Central Railway H C Joshi said.

He said the train was moving at about 108 kmph when the accident occurred. "It was almost moving at the speed of 108 kmph which is full speed," Joshi said.

"38 passengers have died. About 210 injured are undergoing treatment here," Joshi said, adding that efforts were on to retrieve the bodies stuck in mangled coaches and the toll was likely to go up.

"Rescue workers have not been able to enter two of the bogies," Superintendent of Police, Fatehpur, Ram Bharose said, adding the dead included women and children.

While some of the bogies had toppled, others were turned into a mangled heap of metal. Gas cutters and other equipment were used to slice through the metal in the AC and other coaches to rescue the trapped passengers.

On July 7, the Mathura-Chhapra Express had crashed into a bus carrying a marriage party at the Adhurpur unmanned railway crossing Kanshiram Nagar, about 250 km from Lucknow, leaving 38 bus passengers dead.