The engine and nine coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duranto Express derailed between Vasind and Asangaon in Mumbai on Tuesday morning.
No one was reported to be injured in the incident, officials from the Central Railways said. Stranded passengers were sent to their destination by bus and accident relief vans. The cause of the derailment is said to be a landslip. According to preliminary information, the accident took place at 6.30 am.
Though the officials said there were no injuries, passengers said many sustained minor injuries. The Railways have sent ambulances and doctors to the accident site and rescue operations were on.
Quick thinking by loco pilot
The Central Railways lauded the loco pilot for quickly applying the emergency breaks to avoid the landslip.
Pradeep Kate, who was travelling to Vashi from Nagpur in coach B3 said he was awake at the time of the accident and he felt two or three severe jerks after which coaches jumped the tracks. “We walked on the tracks till Asangaon and then to the highway and have now taken a taxi to go to our home in Vashi. There were no major injuries witnessed at the site. The passengers took precautions before jumping from the trains,” said Mr. Kate.
Third derailment in 10 days
This is the third train derailment in the country in a period of 10 days.
Fourteen coaches of the Utkal Express jumped the tracks on August 19, with one of them crashing into a house adjacent to the track near Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, claiming 23 lives and injuring over 60.
On August 25, Six coaches of an Andheri-bound local train derailed in Mumbai , injuring six passengers.
