One person died and 22 others were injured when a passenger train rammed into a stationary goods train near Kathajodi station in Odisha's Cuttack district on Thursday. An East Coast Railway (ECoR) official said that the incident occurred at around 6.30 pm.
The Bhubaneswar-Bhadrak DEMU passenger train (number 78408) hit a stationary freight train (BCN-DANKUNI) from behind. Preliminary reports have indicated a wrong signal on the track for the cause of the accident.
Officials said that the injured have been taken to Shrirama Chandra Bhanj Medical College in Cuttack for treatment. Sources told IANS that the death toll could go up as several of them were critically injured.
Odisha Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said that a team of doctors has been formed to look after the injured passengers. He went on to say that free treatment will be provided to the injured.
Cuttack district collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra said that he would ask the railway officials to initiate an enquiry to know the exact cause of the mishap. He said that their primary focus is on the rescue operation. Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams and ambulances were pressed into the rescue operation.
The accident has severely affected train services between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
(With inputs from IANS)
