Bhopal/Jabalpur/Varanasi Three people, including a loco pilot and his assistant, were killed when two goods trains of electricity generator National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) collided in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh early on Sunday, said police.
The accident took place near Waidhan, the administrative headquarters of Singrauli district which is 780 kilometres northeast of the state capital of Bhopal.
The deceased were loco pilot Rasheed Ahmad, 65, from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, assistant loco pilot Mandeep Kumar,27, from UP’s Robertsganj, and Ramlakshan, 29, a points-man from Singrauli.
Inspector at Waidhan police station Arun Kumar Pandey said, “One of the goods trains, laden with coal, was on its way to NTPC in Rihand Nagar of Uttar Pradesh, while the other was returning after unloading coal at the power generating centre. There are double tracks but one of the tracks at the site was not being used for quite some time as it was damaged. Hence, only one train is allowed to pass at a time. About 14 wagons of the train with empty wagons had crossed the point when the goods train laden with coal rammed into it.”
The police officer said, “All the deceased were on the train laden with coal. The engine was damaged and all the three employees were trapped. It took the police and NTPC staff over six hours to retrieve the bodies.”
{{/usCountry}}The police officer said, “All the deceased were on the train laden with coal. The engine was damaged and all the three employees were trapped. It took the police and NTPC staff over six hours to retrieve the bodies.”
{{/usCountry}}He said post-mortem was conducted and the bodies were handed over to the respective families. “A preliminary investigation is going on and an FIR will be lodged accordingly. Till now, there is no complaint from anyone.”
East Central Railway (ECR) spokesperson Rajesh Kumar said in a statement that the accident did not involve the Indian Railways. He said it took place in the system completely owned and operated by NTPC in Rihand.
“Indian Railways has nothing to do with the accident. The casualties are also of non-railway men,” Kumar said.
“However, as per the NTPC’s request, Indian Railways is providing all support for early restoration of movement [of trains],” he said.
NTPC Rihand public relations officer Aadesh Pandey said, “Prima facie, it appears to be a case of human error. Since repair work is on at one of the tracks, both the trains were supposed to pass on a single track at the site. The driver with empty wagons had been told to maintain a specific speed so that there was no chance of collision but it appears that he couldn’t maintain that specific speed.”
He said, “An inquiry has been instituted and based on the findings, NTPC will take further action.”