“Deeply saddened…”: HD Kumaraswamy condoles loss of lives in West Bengal train accident

New Delhi [India], June 17 (ANI): Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday condoled the loss of lives in the accident in Darjeeling involving the Kanchenjunga Express train and a goods train in which at least eight passengers were killed and over 20 people sustained injuries.

Taking to ‘X’, Kumaraswamy wrote, “Deeply saddened by the tragic train accident in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district. My heartfelt condolences go out to the families of those who perished. May God grant them the strength to endure this immense loss, and may the injured experience a swift and full recovery.”

At least eight people have died and about 25 to 30 are injured as a goods train collided with the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjungha Express on Monday morning near New Jalpaiguri, a senior North Frontier Railway (NFR) official said. The accident took place around 9 am.

Meanwhile, rescue efforts to extricate trapped passengers are ongoing. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and police are present at the Kanchenjunga Express train accident site in Ruidhasa in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is leaving for Darjeeling to visit the Kanchenjunga Express train accident site.

In a post on ‘X’, Vaishnaw earlier termed it an “unfortunate accident in the NFR zone,” and said, “Rescue operations are ongoing at a war footing. Railways, NDRF, and SDRF are working in close coordination. The injured are being shifted to the hospital. Senior officials have reached the site.”

A wagon of the Kanchenjunga Express train was suspended in the air after a goods train rammed into it at Ruidhasa near Rangapani station under the Siliguri subdivision in the Darjeeling district.

Sealdah Eastern Railway has set up a control desk at Rangapani station after the Kanchenjunga Express train was rammed by a goods train at Ruidhasa in Darjeeling.

The central government, meanwhile, has announced an enhanced ex-gratia compensation for victims in the train mishap.

Families of the deceased will be provided Rs 10 lakh each while a sum of Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 50,000 will be provided to those who sustained grievous and minor injuries respectively, said Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.