Sainthia railway accident

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The railway accident in Sainthia on July 19, 2010 was a rear-end collision between the Uttar Banga Express and the Vananchal Express of the Indian Railways in the train station of Sainthia in the Indian state of West Bengal , the cause of which has never been clarified in key points. 66 people died in the railway accident .

Starting position

The Vananchal Express , traveling from Bhagalpur to Ranchi on a multi-track railway line , stopped in Sainthia. The track on which the train was parked was not secured by a protective switch because the responsible railway employees were not at their workplaces. The exit signal was already 11 minutes before the impact was "Drive clear", but the engine driver still had to wait for the departure order from the supervisory officer .

In the same direction of travel, the Uttar Banga Express moved on the same route behind the Vananchal Express , en route from New Cooch Behar to Kolkata Sealdah towards Sainthia station, where it stops according to the schedule . The two train drivers had to train about five hours before Malda taken, the first engine driver was very experienced and both appeared to station staff in Gadadharpur where the train about 7 km before the accident must unobtrusive and keep fit unscheduled had.

Accident

Instead of braking, the Uttar Banga Express first passed through a slow speed zone at 90 km / h instead of the prescribed 30 km / h and then the entry signal for Sainthia station showing "Halt" at a speed of 80-90 km / h (would have been permissible also here 30 km / h) and into the station without braking . The train driver , who had noticed the excessive speed in front of the station and the railway signal showing "Stop" , tried to reach the train driver via radio , but could not establish contact. When the train driver wanted to trigger the emergency brake , it did not react. The station master of Sainthia also tried to reach the crew on the locomotive by radio - in vain. Since it was too late to steer the approaching Uttar Banga Express onto another track , he used the platform loudspeaker system to warn everyone to move out of the danger area. But since most of the people slept in the standing Vananchal Express , that had little success. The Uttar Banga Express drove onto the Vananchal Express at unabated speed at around 2 a.m. Apparently the engine drivers tried not to jump off before the impact either. They were trapped and found dead in their seats.

consequences

66 dead and 165 injured were the result of the accident, the cause of which could never be determined with certainty. This sparked a bitter political dispute over responsibility for the accident. The first suspicion that the locomotive crew were under drugs was not confirmed by the autopsy . The force of the collision was so great that a car was pushed onto a bridge over the tracks . The greatest damage occurred in the rear cars of the Vananchal Express , vehicles of the lowest class that were heavily occupied. As the subsequent investigation showed, the brakes of the Uttar Banga Express , as well as the signal systems, were intact.

The rescue trains took a long time to reach the scene of the accident, the first two and a half hours, the second seven hours, which was heavily criticized.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NN: Sainthia train mishap .
  2. ↑ Mandal: Diversion .
  3. ↑ NN: Uttarbanga Express .
  4. ^ NN: Railways blame .
  5. ↑ Sanjay Mandal et al. Tamaghna Banerjee: Railway .
  6. ↑ Thakur.
  7. ↑ Sanjay Mandal et al. Tamaghna Banerjee: Railway .
  8. ↑ Thakur.
  9. ^ NN: Railways blame .
  10. ↑ Thakur.
  11. ↑ Sanjay Mandal et al. Tamaghna Banerjee: Railway .
  12. ↑ Sanjay Mandal et al. Tamaghna Banerjee: Railway .
  13. ^ NN: Railways blame .
  14. ^ Mandal: Diversion ; NN: Uttarbanga Express .
  15. ↑ NN: Uttarbanga Express .
  16. ↑ Thakur.
  17. ↑ Thakur.
  18. ↑ Sanjay Mandal et al. Tamaghna Banerjee: Railway .
  19. ↑ NN: Sainthia train mishap .
  20. ↑ Chowdhury.
  21. ↑ Thakur names 69 dead and 150 injured.
  22. ^ NN: Blame game .
  23. ↑ Sanjay Mandal et al. Tamaghna Banerjee: Railway .
  24. ^ NN: Blame game .

Coordinates: 23 ° 57 ′ 3.9 "  N , 87 ° 40 ′ 51.4"  E