KOLKATA: At least 15 passengers died and 60 others were injured, after three rear coaches of the stationary Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express derailed on Monday morning as a goods train collided with it in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, officials said.
The toll could rise, as multiple agencies of the state and center were simultaneously working on a war footing along with locals to rescue passengers who could still be trapped inside, they said.
The deceased include the pilot and co-pilot of the goods train, and the guard of the passenger train, a senior railway official said.
The injured were being shifted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, police said.
The three rear compartments derailed under the impact of the collision from behind by the locomotive of the goods train near Rangapani station, about 30 km from North Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri station, the official said.
According to preliminary information received from railway officials, the passenger train was stationary on the tracks when the goods train rammed into it from behind.
While two rear compartments of the Kanchanjunga Express were immediately thrown off the tracks under the severe impact, another bogie was seen precariously hanging mid-air with the engine of the goods train tucked underneath.
