| Kuneru train derailment | |
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| Details | |
| Date | 21 January 2017 11:00 p.m. local time (16:30 UTC, 21 January) |
| Location | Kuneru, Andhra Pradesh |
| Coordinates | 18°57′59″N 83°26′25″E / 18.96639°N 83.44028°E / 18.96639; 83.44028 |
| Country | India |
| Line | Part of Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line |
| Operator | East Coast Railway zone |
| Incident type | Derailment |
| Cause | Under investigation |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | ~600 |
| Deaths | 41 |
| Injured | 68 |
On January 21, 2017, the Hirakhand Express 18448, a scheduled passenger train from JagdalpurtoBhubaneswar, derailed near the village of KuneruinVizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India, killing 41 people and injuring 68 others. The train was carrying 600 passengers.[1]
The diesel engine of the train and nine cars derailed around 11 p.m. local time.[2] Three cars derailed with enough force to leave the roadbed entirely,[3] and some collided with a freight train on a parallel track.[4] According to a district fire department official, some of the casualties were a result of a stampede within the train as passengers tried to flee after the crash.[5] Emergency teams worked intensively to locate and rescue survivors from the crash, said the National railway spokesman Anil Saxena.[6]
The first rescue workers reached the site of the crash 40 minutes after the train derailed.[5] Rescue and recovery work continued until the next day, while repairs to the track were completed by the morning of 23 January.[3] Indian Railways said that it would pay ₹200,000 to the families of those killed in the crash and ₹50,000 to injured passengers,[5] while the government of Odisha announced that it planned to pay ₹500,000 to families of the dead.[7]
According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, investigation of the accident, in conjunction with India's Railway Safety Commissioner, started on January 22.[2] Director General of Police K.B. Singh said there was no evidence of sabotage of the track involved, though unnamed railroad officials had initially hypothesized such.[2]
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