Patna:

Reacting 12 hours after the derailment of the North East Express train in Bihar’s Buxar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he is ‘disheartened’ at the incident and is ‘extremely sad’.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has described the death of four people in the accident near Raghunathpur railway station in Buxar district of North-East Express going from Anand Vihar station in Delhi to Kamakhya station in Guwahati as extremely sad and is heartbroken by this tragic incident, a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office read.

The Chief Minister has expressed condolences to the families of those killed in this accident and has prayed to God to give strength to the bereaved families to bear the loss in this hour of grief, the statement added.

Nitish Kumar also directed the government officials to make arrangements for proper treatment of those injured in the accident and has prayed to God for their speedy recovery.

The coaches of 12506 North-East Express train originating in Delhi’s Anand Vihar Terminus and on its way to Kamakhya near Guwahati in Assam derailed near Raghunathpur station in Danapur division of the East Central Railway, the Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway said.

According to a statement issued by the East Central Railway zone, two trains — Kashi Patna Jan Shatabdi Express (15125) and Patna Kashi Jan Shatabdi Express (15126) — have been cancelled.

At least four persons were killed and around 70 people were injured after 21 coaches of the express train derailed around 9.30 am on Wednesday.

Tarun Prakash, General Manager of East Central Railways (ECR) told ANI that authorities are investigating the cause of the incident. Teams of the national and state disaster response forces have reached the incident site.

Meanwhile, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that evacuation and rescue operations had been completed. Union Minister of State for Railways Ashwni Choubey visited the site this morning to inspect restoration and rescue operations.

He said that efforts to restore rail operations is on and an inquiry has begun to ascertain the cause of the mishap. The minister said that the injured are under treatment at AIIMS Patna and out of danger.

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