Kin struggle for info after derailment near Kanpur; ER diverts many trains

Kolkata: A planned trip to the Taj Mahal turned into a nightmare for 52-year-old Sandhya Mandal from West Bengal who suffered serious injuries in the derailment of the Sealdah-Ajmer Express here on Wednesday.

Ms Mandal, one of the 50 passengers who were injured when 15 coaches of the ill-fated train derailed near Rura railway station in Kanpur Rural district, has been admitted to the emergency ward of Hallet Hospital in Kanpur.

In Bengal, the Eastern Railway opened help desks at the Sealdah station to respond to queries of anxious relatives of passengers travelling in the train.

Santu Das of Sodepur in North 24 Parganas said, “Early morning, I got a call from my father who was travelling with my mother in the S-5 coach. He told me he had suffered minor injuries on his chest.” Moloy Mondal was fortunate that his relative on the train was “safe”.

Divisional railway manager (Sealdah) Basudev Panda supervised the arrangements at the station. He said of the total 61 injured, 22 had boarded the train from Kolkata.

Meanwhile, a number of mail and express trains of Eastern Railway were diverted through different routes owing to the derailment. With both Up and Down lines having been blocked, several trains to and from Howrah and Sealdah were diverted, ER sources said here.

Both 12313 Up Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and 12301 Up Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express were diverted via Kanpur Central-Jhansi-Agra Cantonment-Palwal route, the sources said.

The 12308 Dn Jodhpur-Howrah Express has been diverted via Achhnera-Mathura-Kasganj-Kanpur Anwarganj-Kanpur Central, while 12260 Dn New Delhi-Sealdah Duronto Express was diverted via Khurja-Moradabad-Mughalsarai route. The 12382 Dn Poorva Express, which left New Delhi yesterday, would run via Palwal, while 12312 Dn Kalka Mail of yesterday would travel towards Howrah via Moradabad