Express train derails in Tamil Nadu; one dead, 50 injured

Zeenews Bureau

Chennai: One passenger was killed and fifty others injured when a train derailed at Sitheri near Arakkonam Wednesday morning. According to railway sources, eleven coaches of the Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur Express bound for Yesvantpur derailed at about 0550 hours. Two passengers were killed in the mishap, while the injured were admitted to the hospitals by the rescue teams of the Southern Railway, the sources initially said. "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 am today," a railway official was quoted as saying earlier. In the wake of the incident, the rail traffic on Arakkonam junction has been affected. The mishap occurred when Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) train rammed into the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger from behind as it was waiting for a signal at Sitheri Station. A team of senior Railway officials from Chennai have reached the accident site and held preliminary enquiries on the cause of the mishap, reports said. The Southern Railway cancelled seven trains including Bangalore-bound Brindavan Express, Duranto Express between Chennai-Coimbatore and Kovai Express. With PTI inputs