22 killed, 26 injured as Goa Express rams into Mewar Express near Mathura

At least 22 people were killed and 26 others injured when the Delhi-bound Goa Express rammed into the stationary Mewar Express, also heading for the capital, between Mathura and Vrindavan on the North-Central Railway (NCR) in the early hours today. NCR spokesman Rajesh Vajpayee told NetIndian over the telephone that seven of those killed had been identified. They included three women.

The victims were identified as Priya Shrivastava (Ballabgarh, Haryana), Geeta (Dheerpur, Delhi), Dinesh (Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh), Jai Tiwari (Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh), Hemant (54, Baran, Rajasthan), Brijesh Chaturvedi (41, Morena), Suman (42).

A senior railway official at the scene of the accident told mediapersons that all the injured passengers had been brought out of the damaged coach of the Udaipur-Hazrat Nizamuddin Mewar Express and rushed to the Government hospital in Mathura and other hospitals in the Uttar Pradesh town, about 140 km from Delhi

He said the bodies of all those killed in the mishap had also been extricated from the wreckage of the coach. Railway officials did not give any cause for the accident, saying their immediate priority was the rescue and relief operation and the restoration of rail traffic on the busy route that connects Delhi and Mumbai. However, media reports suggested that the Mewar Express had stopped because someone had pulled the emergency chain.

The official on the scene said it appeared that the driver of the 2779 Goa Express, which was on the same track, appeared to have ignored a signal and had failed to slow down to a cautious speed as required when there is a train not far ahead on the same line. Officials said the rescue operations had been completed. The damaged bogie of the 2964 Mewar Express was detached, and the remainder of the train later reached Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi with passengers of both the trains. Buses had also been arranged to transport passengers of the two trains to Nizamuddin, he said.

Senior railway officials in Delhi told NetIndian that the accident occurred around 0445 hours, leading to considerable damage to the last coach of the Mewar Express.