In yet another railway mishap, two persons were killed and 16 injured, five of them seriously, after a Rohtak-bound train collided head-on with two stationary engines in west Delhi area on Saturday evening.
The passenger train's engine, the adjoining bogie and the two stationary engines caught fire after the collision at Shakur Basti station in Rani Bagh area at around 1935 IST, police said adding the blaze was doused after 15 minutes.
Such was the impact of the collision that both the engines were badly mangled. The victims were travelling in the bogie just behind the engine of the passenger train, police said.
Altogether 18 people were injured, two of whom succumbed to burn injuries on their way to the hospital, they said adding one of the deceased has been identified as Sunil Kumar (32) of Bahadurgarh in Haryana.
The injured, including assistant driver of the passenger train and shunter of the stationary engine, have been admitted to various hospitals, police said.
The train was on its way to Rohtak in Haryana from Tilak Bridge in Delhi when the mishap occurred.
Railway officials said the cause of the accident was not known yet. The cabin man was absconding after the accident, they said.
Railway Board chairman R K Singh, Northern Railway general manager R R Jaruhar, Delhi Lt Governor Vijai Kapoor and Police Commissioner R S Gupta and other senior railway and police officials visited the spot. A medical team of the railways also went to the site.
Names of some of the injured:
Rajesh Kumar (24)
Raju (24)
Ajay (15)
Rajesh (24)
Chand Singh (25)
Narender
Hemant
Gopal
Prem Singh
Shiv Narain
Uttam Singh
Union Railway minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday night announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 100,000 to the next of kin of those killed in the accident. A Northern Railway release said those seriously injured will be paid Rs 15,000 each while those with minor injuries will get Rs 5,000 each.
