A local resident of Jajpur Road claimed that the deadly accident of Coromandel Express which had claimed 16 lives in 2009 occurred at the same place where stationery bogies of an engine-less goods train ran over six people on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking to OTV, the local said, “The Coromandel Express had met with a mishap in 2009 at exactly the same place. Many people had died in the crash.”
As per reports, as many as 13 bogies of the Coromandel Express, which was running at a high speed, derailed just after it crossed the Jajpur Road Railway Station while changing tracks. Out of the 13 bogies that derailed, 11 were sleeper class and two were general. While the engine of the train went onto another track, the bogies derailed and got delinked from the train. One of the 13 bogies had mounted onto another. The accident occurred between 7:30pm and 7:40pm.
A massive operation was launched after the accident and medical teams and ambulances were mobilised from Jajpur and adjoining districts to rush the injured to hospitals. Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams also joined the rescue operation with high-tech equipment.
Meanwhile, after today's mishap, Railway sources informed that the victims were taking shelter under the stationery rakes of the train during a thunderstorm.
The deceased were contractual labourers reportedly engaged by a contractor for Railway work near Jajpur-Keonjar Road.
The engine-less train was actually a monsoon reserve rake without engine parked at the sick line near Jajpur-Keonjhar Road. It rolled down during a heavy thunderstorm today and ran over the labourers taking shelter under it, said a statement by the Railways.