Only few passengers from the State sustained injuries in the derailment of the Ernakulam-bound Mangala Express from Nizamuddin near Ghoti between Igathpuri and Nasik stations early on Friday.
Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisional authorities set up helplines at major stations following information that 13 coaches (S-7, S-8, S-9, S-10, S-11, Pantry Car, B-1, B-2, B-3, A-1, A-2, GS1, SLR) derailed at 6.25 a.m. and there were casualties.
Three persons were killed and 23 suffered injuries in the accident. Of the injured, four were pantry staff and three were attendants of an air-conditioned coach.
Pantry manager of the train B. Biju told The Hindu over the phone from Igathpuri that the 22-member staff in the pantry car were preparing breakfast at the time of accident. “I cannot recollect what happened. It was a plain terrain. Except the locomotive and the next coach, all the coaches derailed,” he said. “I have been working in Mangala Express for the last six years and it was the first accident. It was a lucky escape for the passengers,” Mr. Biju, who hails from Palakkad, said.
Four of the injured of the pantry staff- Muralikumar, Vinod Kumar, Manikantan and Chandrasekharan - were shifted by Mr. Biju to hospital. Except Mr. Muralikumar who fractured a leg, the rest were discharged after first aid. Mr. Biju said Mr. Muralikumar would be discharged from hospital on Saturday.
