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Assam: 7 elephants killed as Rajdhani rams into herd, 5 coaches derailed
The incident took place at 2.17 am in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division.
Guwahati: At least seven wild elephants were killed and one injured after the DN-Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express rammed into a herd in the Kampur area of Assam’s Hojai district early Saturday, derailing the engine and five coaches, officials said.
“Seven elephants --- three adults and four calves --- were killed in the accident while one calf sustained injuries. We are conducting postmortem of all the carcasses,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Nagaon forest division Suhas Kadam said.
According to Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials, the incident took place at 2.17 am in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division. “However, there are no casualties or injuries to any passenger. The area is about 126 km away from Guwahati. Accident relief trains, along with officials from the divisional headquarters, are already at the site,” the NFR said in a statement.
Passengers of the affected coaches have been temporarily accommodated in vacant berths available in other coaches.
“The derailed train, after detaching the affected coaches, has left the site for Guwahati. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be added to accommodate the passengers of the affected coaches, and the train will resume its journey,” the statement added.
Railway officials said the incident took place at a location that is not a designated elephant corridor. The train pilot, on observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes. However, the elephants collided with the train.
“Trains scheduled to pass through that section are being diverted through another line. Restoration works are on,” the statement read.
Helpline numbers have already been activated at Guwahati railway station: 0361-2731621 / 2731622 / 2731623.
“This shows that coordination between the concerned departments and the railways is still far from satisfactory. It needs ground coordination to share elephant movement information with the railways to avert such incidents,” said Bibhab Talukdar, chief executive officer of Aaranyak, a wildlife NGO.
