Accident blocks Delhi-Howrah rail route, two dozen trains diverted

Lucknow: More than two dozen trains were diverted through other routes late on Thursday after traffic on the busy Delhi-Howrah rail route was brought to a grinding halt after a crane fell on the rail tracks in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district, officials said.

Two trains have been cancelled.

Railway officials informed IANS that traffic on both up and down lines has been disrupted. The crane came crashing at a site where a rail overbridge was being constructed between Gaipura and Jigna station in Mirzapur.

The trains which were on the way have since been diverted to Kanpur, Mughalsarai and Allahabad. An official further informed that because of the accident at the site, the overhead high tension wires were snapped.

Another crane was requisitioned by the railway officials to clear the tracks but to no success. DRM Allahabad, Sanjay Kumar Pankaj and other divisional managers are camping at the site to expedite the clearing of the tracks.A

"We hope that the operation would succeed by morning," an official added.