Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: At least 23 people were killed while over 40 got injured after 14 coaches of high-speed Kalinga Utkal Express went off the tracks at around 5:46 pm in Khatauli, about 100 kilometres from New Delhi near Muzaffarnagar on Saturday evening. Rescue operations were completed on a war footing by NDRF personnel, local police and residents after hours of hard work and all injured persons have been shifted for treatment while restoration processes are underway.
Expressing grief over the loss of lives, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in his twitter post said he is closely monitoring the situation. Prabhu directed railway doctors to visit the injured in the hospitals and ensure best possible medical help in coordination with the officials of health ministry.
As many as 11 passengers in 3rd tier AC and 88 passengers in Sleeper class boarded the train from Puri, Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Rourkela and Jharsuguda stations in Odisha to destinations beyond Nizamuddin, the final reservation chart said.
Although the exact casualty details from Odisha are yet to be confirmed the state government has declared compensation for the victims of the mishap. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia to kin of persons killed in accident and Rs 50,000 financial assistance for the injured.
As many as three trains have been cancelled and six other trains have been diverted following the derailment of the express train.
Trains including Ambala-Delhi- Ambala Intercity Express, Haridwar-Puri Utkal Kalinga Express, and Jalandhar-New Delhi Intercity Express commencing journey tomorrow have been cancelled.
Also Read: Utkal Express Derailment: Five-Member Team From Odisha To Visit Spot Today
Apart from this, six other trains, which commenced journey today, have been diverted, the railway ministry said in a statement. The 18238 Amritsar-Bilaspur Chhatisgarh Express has been diverted via Ambala- Panipat-New Delhi-Hazrat Nizamuddin while 12904 Amritsar-Mumbai Central Golden Temple Mail has been diverted via Ambala-Panipat- New Delhi-Hazrat Nizamuddin.
Similarly, 14646 Jammu Tawi-Delhi Shalimar Express has been diverted via Ambala-Panipat-Delhi and 19326 Amritsar-Indore Express has been diverted via Ambala-Panipat-New Delhi- Hazrat Nizamuddin. The 04402 Katra-Anand Vihar service has been diverted via Ambala-Panipat-Delhi and will be short terminated at Delhi while 24155 Allahabad-Udhampur Express has been terminated via Khurja-Delhi-Panipat-Ambala.
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