Indian Railway system yet again brought a strike of tragedy for the relatives of the people who died in the Kanchenjunga Express Train accident. At least 10 people died, and over 40 were injured in the horrific train collision between two trains in the beautiful hill station of West Bengal, Darjeeling. The accident took place on June 17, 2024.
The accident took place at around 9 in the morning when a cargo train rammed the Kanchanjunga Express, which was traveling from Assam to Kolkata. The goods train loco pilot and two other railway staff were among the dead.
Reason of Kanchenjunga Train Accident
The Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has called for an inquiry into the Kanchenjunga Express train collision. The Chairman of the Railway Board stated that the Kanchanjungha Express, which was traveling from Agartala to Sealdah, was struck by a cargo train from behind that ignored the signal in the vicinity of Jalpaiguri.
Based on the preliminary investigation from the Railway Board, it was found that the goods train was above speed limits when it crashed because of a malfunctioning automatic signaling system.
This is not the first time that passengers lost their lives due to a failure, manual or machine, on the railway end. Here is the list of the top 5 deadliest train accidents that occurred in India, which took numerous lives.
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Top 7 Deadliest Train Accidents in India
Being the fourth largest railway network comes with its challenges. India has been a victim of many train accidents. With the loss of 10 lives in the recent Kanchenjunga Express accident, the discussion on train safety is once again in trend. Let’s take a look at some of the deadliest train accidents in India:
Balasore Train Accident: 2023
The Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed, sending ten or twelve coaches flying into the other track. Then the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express ran into the derailed coaches, which caused three or four of its own coaches to go derailing. The fact that a cargo train was also involved in the collision added to the misery. Over 900 people were hurt, and at least 275 people died in this triple-train crash.
Pukhrayan Train Derailment: 2016
In the year 2016, fourteen coaches of the Indore-Patna Express train fell off the rails in the vicinity of Pukhrayan, around 100 kilometers from Kanpur, resulting in up to 120 deaths and over 200 injuries.
Jnaneshwari Express Derailment: 2010
A total of 148 people died when the Mumbai-bound train derailed close to Jhargram and was struck by an approaching cargo train. Authorities stated that Maoist sabotage was to blame for the derailment. The event happened shortly after the CPI (Maoist) called for a four-day bandh.
Rafiganj Train Wreck: 2002
More than 140 persons were killed in the Rafiganj train disaster when the Howrah Rajdhani Express crashed over a bridge over the Dhave River. Terrorist sabotage was held accountable for the event.
Gaisal Train Disaster: 1999
At least 285 persons lost their lives when two trains crashed close to Kolkata. The incident happened when two trains carrying over 2,500 passengers collided at West Bengal's isolated Gaisal station. It was the result of a signaling mistake. Three of the four tracks on the line were closed for maintenance, thus both trains were utilizing the same track.
Sealdah Express Collision: 1998
A total of 212 people died when the Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express and three derailed coaches of Frontier Golden Temple Mail trains crashed in Khanna, Punjab, in 1998.
Firozabad Rail Disaster: 1995
Two trains collided 200 km from Delhi, resulting in at least 350 deaths. A passenger train and a train that had stopped after hitting a nilgai collided on August 20, 1995, at 02:55, resulting in the Firozabad rail disaster.
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