The death toll in the train accident near the Bilaspur railway station in Chhattisgarh rose to 11, officials said on Wednesday. The accident that took place on Tuesday involved a goods train and a mainline electric multiple unit (MEMU) local near.
At least 20 passengers were injured in the incident.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
How did Bilaspur train accident occur?
According to officials familiar with the matter, cited in an earlier HT report, the incident took place around 4 pm when the MEMU passenger train was heading to Bilaspur from Gevra in neighbouring Korba district when it rammed into a goods train from behind.
The spot is a few kilometres away from Bilaspur city that houses the headquarters of South Eastern Central Railway (SECR) zone.
The impact of the collision was so severe that a coach of the passenger train ended up on top of a wagon of the cargo train, a railway official aware of the matter said.
“So far, eight bodies have been recovered, including four women and four men,” the report quoted inspector general (Bilaspur Range) Sanjeev Shukla, who added that rescue operations are still underway, and the death toll may rise once the debris are completely cleared.
Bilaspur collector Sanjay Agrawal said that injured passengers have been shifted to Apollo Hospital and Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) in Bilaspur. “One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition,” he added.
