NEW DELHI- India’s railway ministry said Sunday a “ghastly” accident wasnarrowly avoided after 22 train coaches carrying some 1,000 passengersbecame detached from the engine and sped backwards for miles before beingstopped.
The runaway carriages in the eastern state of Odisha rolled for 12kilometers before being brought to a shuddering halt by rocks placed on thetracks by railway staff. A spokesman for the railway ministry’s easterndivision said none of about 1,000 passengers were injured in the incidentSaturday night.
But seven railway employees who did not follow proper procedures have beensuspended and an investigation launched into how the carriages becameseparated during the journey from the western state of Gujarat to Odisha,said spokesman JP Mishra.
A 2012 government report said almost 15,000 people were killed in variousways every year on India’s railways and described the loss of life as anannual “massacre”.Heads to roll
Authorities believe that brakes applied when carriages are detached orattached to the engine were either incorrectly used or overlookedaltogether. “Something ghastly could have happened and it was averted byalert staff. Safety cannot be compromised,” Mishra told AFP, adding “moreheads are likely to roll”.
“Everybody in the railways (ministry) is aghast and shocked.” Mobilefootage posted on social media showed the carriages speeding past a railwayplatform as helpless onlookers screamed and yelled at passengers to pullthe train’s emergency brake.
More than 22 million passengers commute daily on some 9,000 trains acrossIndia. The incident is just latest to beset the creaking rail network,which dates back to the colonial era. Last November 13 coaches of anexpress train derailed in northern India, killing three and leaving nineinjured. A year before that, 146 people died in a similar disaster.