Zeenews Bureau
Chennai: In yet another major train accident, the Chennai Beach-Vellore EMU train rammed into Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train from behind near Arakkonam junction, about 75 km from here on Tuesday.
Helpline numbers: 044 - 25357390, 25347771, 09244919572
Initial reports say, Train No. 187 Arakkonam-Vellore passenger was waiting for signal to move forward when the EMU rammed into it from behind at around 9.30 pm.
Fifteen people were feared killed and 80 other were critically injured in the rail accident. The injured were rushed to the Arakkonam government hospital.
Three bogies of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train were thrown off the tracks as an impact of the accident.
There are possibilities that scores of passengers could have been trapped under the debris.
The Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the families of the victims. He announced Rs one lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for the lesser injuries.
Two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been rushed to the accident site. Top railway officials from Southern zone were rushed to the accident spot. Medical, rescue and relief team reached the accident spot. Rescue and relief operations were on. Efforts are in full swing to free the trapped people. However, rescue and relief efforts were hit by darkness and heavy rains in the area.
Train traffic on the busy Chennai-Katpadi section has been disrupted and several trains leaving Chennai Central have been affected.
First Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 23:18