INDIA: Sixty-nine people died and almost 180 were injured after their luxury express train hurtled off a bridge into a swollen river in eastern India's Bihar state, officials said yesterday.
Junior railways minister Mr Bandaru Dattatreya, who suspected sabotage, feared the death toll could reach 100 as army engineers cut through the wreckage of mangled carriages with acetylene torches to rescue passengers trapped inside. Around 50 bodies had been recovered by last night.
Railway officials said 13 of the 18 carriages of the prestigious Rajdhani Express, headed for New Delhi, were damaged when it derailed near Gaya on Monday night, 656 km after leaving Calcutta. Around 600 people, including railway staff, were on board. Police said one of the coaches with 64 passengers was submerged in the Dhabi river, swollen by excessive monsoon rain, while three others were hanging from the bridge. Rescue teams were delayed by heavy rain and the remoteness of thesite. Mr Dattatreya said fishplates binding the rail track had been removed and held Maoist guerrilla's in poverty-stricken Bihar, responsible. But deputy prime minister Mr Lal Krishna Advani and Bihar's police doubted whether sabotage caused the derailment. An inquiry has been ordered.
"The railway authorities have jumped to the conclusion that it is sabotage without caring to verify ground realities," Bihar's insp-gen of police Neelmani said, adding that Maoists had never targeted passenger trains. He said they had blown up rail tracks, but always informed the authorities beforehand. Indian Rail celebrated its 150th birthday this year and operates over 14,000 trains transporting around 13 million passengers. It has around 250-300 accidents a year. But the luxurious Rajdhani Express, on which tickets cost around €153, three times the wage of the average Indian, has rarely been involved.