New Delhi: Fifteen people have died so far after the Agartala-Sealdah Kanchanjungha Express met with an accident on Monday in North Bengal on being hit by a goods train. Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for the victims.
"Enhanced ex-gratia compensation will be provided to the victims; Rs10 Lakh in case of death, Rs 2.5 Lakh towards grievous and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries," he tweeted.
Driver of the goods train and guard of the passenger express are among the fifteen dead declared so far in the train accident in Siliguri district. A denior police official has confirmed that 15 people have died and 60 others are injured in this accident.
"Prima facie suggests human error as the cause. The first indications suggest that this is a case of signal disregard. Kavach needs to proliferate, as planned for West Bengal," Chairman & CEO Railway Board Jaya Varma Sinha said.
Meanwhile, in a social media post on X, the Prime Minister said, "The railway accident in West Bengal is saddening. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover as the earliest. Spoke to officials and took stock of the situation. Rescue operations are underway to assist the affected."
The Prime Minister in his post also informed: "The Railways Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw Ji is on the way to the site of the mishap as well."
A medical team from the Indian Army reached the spot to assist the civilian authorities, including many NGOs.
The NDRF and DMG began the rescue operations earlier. The evacuation was, however, affected due to inclement weather. The rescuers were looking for any people stuck inside the mangled bogies. The first responders were locals though.
