17 people were killed and 120 injured when the engine and four bogies of a passenger train derailed on Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Sunday.
The accident occurred just outside a tunnel near Nidi village when the engine and four out of the 20 bogies of Diwa-Sawantwadi passenger train derailed at around 10 AM between Nagothane and Roha railway stations, about 120 kms from Mumbai.
According to Raigad police control room, 17 passengers were killed and around 120 injured in the mishap which occurred in a remote area. However, a Railway spokesman in New Delhi put the number of those killed at 13.
The death toll rose as more bodies and injured persons were found trapped when the overturned bogies were being removed, a police official said.
Rescue operations were underway, police said.
Eleven bodies were sent to Nagothane primary health centre for postmortem, while six were taken to government hospital at Roha, the police control room said.
Of the injured passengers, a majority were being treated at Roha government hospital and the rest at Nagothane primary health centre, it said.
Following the mishap, services on Konkan Railway route were suspended. According to railway authorities, some trains were diverted via Panvel—Lonavala—Pune—Miraj—Londa—Madgaon and a few cancelled.
A goods train had derailed last month on the route, affecting services.
The Railways also started two helpline—— Thane —— 022—25334840 and Panwel——022—27468. The helpline numbers on which passengers can contact Konkan Railway are 02352—228176 / 228951 / 228954, and 022—27561721/3/4.