Toy train derails on Kalka-Shimla track; 2 foreigners killed

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Shimla: A narrow gauge chartered toy train running on the Kalka-Shimla railway track derailed on Saturday afternoon.

The train derailed near Taksal station, some 3.5 kilometres from Kalka.

Two foreigners were killed in the accident while five others were injured, Neeraj Sharma, CPRO, Northern Railway, told a news channel.

Two coaches of the four-coach special train derailed at 12:55 pm near a curve, Sharma said.

The train was a tourist special chartered train whose booking had been done through IRCTC.

While the injured were first taken to a hospital in Kalka, they are now being shifted Max Hospital, Chandigarh, Sharma informed. Two of them are repoted to be serious.

"The accident occurred when the train was about 3.5 kilometres away from Kalka. The accident site falls in Himachal Pradesh,” Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railways, Ambala, Dinesh Kumar, told PTI over the phone.

"Preliminary reports received from the site said that two persons have died in the accident while at least five others are injured," Kumar added.

Kumar said the cause of the accident was not immediately clear and an inquiry had been ordered into the incident.

"One full coach derailed while another derailed partially. A railway team has already reached the site. The administration provided immediate relief to the injured and made arrangements for shifting them to hospital. The railways also provided ambulances and other necessary assistance," he said.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway is a narrow gauge service which mainly covers the mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla.

(With PTI inputs)