Bhubaneswar: At least nine wagons of a goods train running on the Angul-Talcher Road route of East Coast Railways derailed in the early hours of Tuesday. All the wagons fell into a river as the derailment happened while the train was travelling over a bridge, Railway officials said. The wagons were carrying wheat and the accident happened at around 2.30am in the morning.
Following the incident, the ECoR has cancelled 12 trains, diverted routes of eight others and short terminated another, officials stated. The accident caused a lot of problems to commuters as there were a number of passenger trains that got cancelled.
Major casualties were averted as the train did not have too many people aboard. The loco pilot and other staff were reported to be safe as the engine remained on the track, the officials informed.
Heavy rain in the wake of a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal is likely to have caused the accident on a bridge over river Nandira. The goods train was on its way from Firozpur to Khurda Road, the officials informed.
It should be stated here that Talcher recorded 394 mm of rainfall in the last two days.
Accident relief trains from Sambalpur and Khurda Road have been rushed to the spot. Senior officials have also reached the accident site to review the situation.
“Prima facie, the cause of the derailment appears to be… flash flood. Retaining walls on both sides have been damaged. Also washout of tracks on approach to the bridge from the Angul side is also evident,” an ECoR official said.