Dozens injured as 5 coaches of Chennai Egmore-Mangalore Express derail
Five coaches of the Chennai Egmore-Mangalore Express derailed in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu early this morning, leaving at least 39 people injured.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities from the accident that occurred near Virudhachalam, about 300km southwest of Chennai. The injured are being rushed to a nearby hospital, agency reports said. Initial reports were sketchy about the accident that halted more than half dozen trains plying on the same route, railway officials said.
According to reports, the incident occurred at 2 am on Friday morning when five coaches derailed, injuring at least 42 people. The mishap comes merely 10 days after Bangalore-Nanded Express train collided with a lorry in Andhra Pradesh killing six including a Karnatak MLA.
India has the world’s fourth largest railway network that ferries more than 23 million passengers every day, but infrastructure is poorly maintained and accidents are common.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 25,006 people died and 3,882 were injured in railway accidents across the country in 2014. While most of these fatalities were caused by fall from trains or collision of trains with people on track, as many as 190 deaths were attributed to collision between trains, derailments and fire accidents.
Chennai-bound trains from southern Tamil Nadu have been diverted due to the accident.
