At least two people were killed and over 50 injured after eleven coaches of a weekly passenger train derailed in Sitheri near Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday.
According to reports, five AC, five non-AC and a pantry coach of Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur Express bound for Yesvantpur was derailed at around 6 am after the train left Chennai Central at 4.30 am.
"As far as the information we have received two persons lost their lives when 11 bogies of Muzafarpur-Yashwantpur Express derailed at Chitheri around 6 a.m. today (Wednesday)," a railway official told IANS.
Southern Railway officials informed that a rescue team and police personnel have reached the spot. The injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals.
The cause of the accident, which occurred 60 km from Chennai, is unknown. The number of casualities is likely to rise.
The accident has affected the rail traffic near the Arakkonam junction due to which many trains were cancelled including Kovai Express, the Duronto Express, the Bangalore Express and the Brindvan Express. Several others trains were delayed.
A similar incident happened In 2011 when a Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) train rammed into the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train as it was waiting to cross Sitheri Station in 2011. Nine people were killed.
According to railway officials, around 1,220 people were killed in train accidents over the past five years in India.
