A special train was arranged by the Railway authority to take the passengers of the Dibrugarh Express to their destinations. With 600 passengers affected by derailment, a special train left for Assam, an official statement said on Thursday.
The special train will have the same stoppages as the train that met with the accident, it added.
Three passengers were killed and thirty injured when eight coaches of the train derailed near Gonda. Rescue operation at the derailment site has been completed, the statement issued by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said.
"The special train with 600 passengers of the derailment affected train (15904 Chandigarh - Dibrugarh express) left from Mankapur at 20.50 hr for Dibrugarh. Earlier they were brought by bus to Mankapur and were served tea, water etc," it said.
Ambulances and medical teams were rushed to the spot between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations, about 150 km from the state capital, as news of the derailment came in.
Alleged sound of a blast before the derailment
The loco pilot heard the “sound of a blast” before the derailment, an official told reporters.
“Prima facie, when teams reached the spot people were laying scattered there in bad shape due to which confusion prevailed,” she said.
A total three passengers died, UP Relief Commissioner G S Naveen said. The dead were identified as Saroj Kumar Singh (31), a resident of Araria in Bihar, and Rahul (38) from Chandigarh.
Thirty of the injured were being treated at two community health centres and three at the district hospital. Apart from Rahul, another passenger was sent to Lucknow.
Even before the relief teams arrived, passengers in the Assam-bound train had begun pouring out of the toppled coaches. Some of them went back again to pull out their luggage. They then sat near the tracks, waiting as rescuers arrived.
“For a moment the coach was filled with dust and it was all dark. I don't remember what happened in the next few seconds. I only remember the cries and that a passenger pulled my hand, and helped me get out of the window," Sandeep Kumar recalled.
Dileep Singh, who was travelling up to Chhapra in Bihar, had climbed on to an upper berth for an afternoon nap when the accident took place at about 2.35 pm. He was thrown on to the berth on the opposite side.
(With PTI inputs)
