In 3-Years of Suresh Prabhu’s Tenure, 9 Major Train Accidents Took Place

In last four days, back-to-back two major derailments took place in which 24 passengers lost their lives and over 160 were injured.

Updated: August 23, 2017 9:16 PM IST

By India.com News Desk

In 3-Years of Suresh Prabhu's Tenure, 9 Major Train Accidents Took Place
On Wednesday afternoon, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offered his resignation to PM Narendra Modi. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi, August 23: After two major train accidents in a week, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday offered his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking moral responsibility of recent rail accidents. Suresh Prabhu, in a series of tweet, said he met the Prime Minister but was asked to wait before putting in papers.

On Saturday morning, Utkal express derailment at Khatauli, near Muzaffarnagar caused a death of 24 people while more than 100 passengers were injured. The reports of the Utkal Express mishap wasn’t even out yet another major rail accident took place on Wednesday night.

At around 2:50 am on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, the Azamgarh-Delhi Kaifiyat Express got hit by a dumper on the tracks, leading to ten bogies being derailed. The derailment caused injuries to 74 passengers, including four grievous injuries.

In last three years, there have been 20 rail accidents, including minor ones, when Prabhu took office. In three years some reports suggest that over 350 “consequential accidents” were reported. In at least nine of these cases, casualties were reported.

Here is a look at some of the biggest rail accidents during Prabhu’s tenure:

Bangalore-Anekal Intercity Express Derailment: On February 13, 2015, nine bogies of Ernakulam Express derailed near Bengaluru. The D9 compartment of the train crashed into D8 and the first four rows of seats were also crushed. In this accident, 10 people were killed and over 150 were injured.

Janata Express Derailment: On March 20, 2015, at around 9 am, Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express got derailed in Rae Bareli district resulting in at least 58 deaths and over 15 injuries. An investigation later showed that brake failure was the cause of the accident.

Jammu Tawi Muri Express Derailment: The Rourkela-Jammu Tawi Muri Express derailed in Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh on May 25, 2015. In the mishap, eight of the bogies of the train were derailed, leading to five deaths and over 50 injuries.

Madhya Pradesh Twin-Train Derailment: On August 4, 2015, the Kamyani Express and Janata Express both got derailed near Hada in Madhya Pradesh. The derailment caused death toll to over 31 people and over 100 other passengers were injured. In this accident, several passengers were washed away by the Machak River.

Duronto Express Derailment: In September 2015, nine coaches of the Secunderabad Junction-Mumbai Lokmany Tilak Terminus Duronto Express derailed near Karnataka’s Kalbugi town in which two deaths and seven injuries were reported.

Kalka-Shimla Derailment: On September 12, the Shivalik Queen – a chartered train from Kalka to Shimla occupied by 36 British tourists and a tour guide got derailed. Two of the tourists died in the accident and 15 others were injured.

Indore-Patna Express Mishap: The derailment of Indore-Patna express near Kanpur in November 2016 was one of the worst train accidents under Prabhu’s tenure. Several causes were later attributed to the accident. The opposition also demanded the resignation of Suresh Prabhu after the Indore Patna mishap.

Hirakhand Express Derailment: Earlier this year, nine coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneshwar Hirakhand Express derailed in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh in January. According to reports, 41 people died and 68 were injured in the accident. Many of the deaths were caused by a stampede as passengers tried to escape from the train.

Utkal Express Derailment: On August 19, 2017, the Delhi-Saharanpur Utkal express got derailed which left over 24 dead and over 150 passengers were injured. A joint inspection team probing the derailment has observed several lapses that could have led to the tragedy.

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