Goods train rams into Kanchanjunga Express: Loco pilot including 15 dead, around 60 injured

KOLKATA: The death toll in the disastrous train collision incident in West Bengal has reached 15 while 60 people have been rushed to hospitals with injuries. The Prime Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Railway officials said that three compartments of the express train derailed.
Rescue operations are in progress while droves of doctors, NDRF and SDRF officials are also on the site. The loco pilot of the goods train that missed the signal and the guard of the Kanchanjunga Express were killed in the accident. Railway Board Chairman and CEO Jaya Verma Sinha said that help desks have been set up at all railway stations on the Agartala-Sealdah route and rescue operations have been completed. The state government will bear the medical expenses of all the injured.On Monday morning, the Kanchenjunga Express, travelling from Silchar in Assam to Sealdah in Kolkata, was hit by a goods train from behind as it neared Rangapani station near New Jalpaiguri. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has rushed to the spot after getting a direct order from the prime minister.