“We are with the people…”: West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Kanchenjunga express accident

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 17 (ANI): Expressing grief over the Kanchenjunga express, Union Minister and West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Monday said that he will visit the injured people in the hospital.

“I will reach Siliguri and will visit the hospital to meet the injured people. Our MPs and MLAs are there. The Railway Minister will also reach there shortly. We are with the people there in this situation of grief,” Majumdar said while speaking to ANI.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also inspected the Kanchenjunga Express train accident site in Darjeeling district and said that the rescue operation has been completed.

“Right now our focus is on restoration. This is the main line. The rescue operation has been completed. This is not the time for politics. I will also meet the injured,” Vaishnaw told reporters.

Expressing concern over the incident, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a post on X wrote, “Unfortunate accident in NFR zone. Rescue operations going on at war footing. Railways, NDRF and SDRF are working in close coordination. Injured are being shifted to the hospital. Senior officials have reached site”.

He said that ex-gratia of Rs10 Lakh will be provided to the victims in case of death, Rs2.5 Lakh towards grievous and Rs50,000 for minor injuries.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the Railway Ministry, accusing them of neglecting passenger amenities and the welfare of railway personnel.

They (Railway Ministry) don’t care about passenger amenities. They don’t even care about railway officials, railway engineers, railway technical staff and workers. They are also in trouble. Their old pension has been withdrawn. I am completely with the railway employees and railway officials. They are trying their best. But this government only cares about the election. How to go for hacking, how to go for manipulation, how to go for rig the election… I think they should give more time for the governance, not for utterance,” Mamata said while speaking to ANI.

Kanchanjungha Express which runs between Silchar in Assam to Sealdah in Kolkata was on its way from Agartala in Tripura to Sealdah when the goods train hit it from behind, according to Sabyasachi De, Chief Public Relations Officer – Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).

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.