On Friday at 6:40 pm, the last coach of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express was involved in a triple train accident. Anubhav Das was on board and heard a loud sound before feeling a jolt. He and other passengers looked out to see what had happened and saw three derailed general coaches. Panicked, they called for help and locals quickly arrived to assist. As they moved along the track, they saw many more mangled coaches and bodies. Das later learned that two passenger trains and one goods train were involved in the accident. He spent close to three-and-a-half hours trying to rescue people before being fetched by a private vehicle sent by his father.
A probe by the Railway Commissioner of Enquiry has been ordered and a preliminary report by the Observers Panel from the accident spot said that the Coromandel Express was signaled to go straight but got into the loop line where the goods train was waiting after a signal switch. Experts are still investigating the cause of the accident.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the spot and said that the accident may have been caused by the absence of an anti-collision system on that stretch of the route.
