Five passenger coaches and the locomotive of the Kolkata–Sairang Express derailed at Digaru railway station on the outskirts of Guwahati in Assam early on Tuesday morning as the pilot lost control while giving precedence to another train.
The railway department confirmed that all passengers on the train are safe and no one sustained any injuries in the incident.
According to the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), the incident occurred at Digaru station around 6.54am, when the Kolkata–Sairang Express, coming from Mizoram, derailed after an accident
The officials said that six units, including five passenger coaches, derailed as a result of the incident.
“The locomotive pilot could not control the speed of the train, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive and five passenger coaches. All passengers are safe and no injuries to anyone,” the railway said in a statement, adding that passengers are being transported to their destinations by an alternate train.
The NFR said its officials reached the site immediately after the incident and launched the required relief and rescue operations. The General Manager of NFR, along with other railway officials, proceeded to the site.
The incident caused delays to several other trains, but no train has been cancelled yet, the NFR said, adding that the Guwahati–Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express and Coimbatore–Silchar Express have been controlled at Panbari and Panikhaiti, respectively.
A video surfaced on social media related to the derailment, in which the locomotive pilot can be heard repeatedly saying the brakes were unresponsive, suggesting he couldn’t stop the train.
However, the NFR has not verified the video’s authenticity or the voice’s identity.
