One killed in train-tractor collision

Our Correspondent

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 22

A person died while another was seriously injured, when a Ludhiana-bound train collided with a tractor trailer at an unmanned level crossing on the Dhuri-Ludhiana track near Kila Raipur station today.

The collision was so strong that various parts of the tractor trailer got scattered on both sides of the track. Sajad Ahmed, the assistant driver of the train, fell at a distance from the track.

The deceased has been identified as Bahadur Singh of Sohian village near Kup town. Sajad Ahmed was shifted to a multispecialty hospital at Ludhiana in an unconscious condition and Bahadur’s body was handed over to his family after conducting the postmortem. Bahadur Singh was shifting clay for a brick kiln with the help of his associates since morning. The rail traffic was suspended for over five hours due to the removal of cables near Rohira early morning and the normal traffic resumed shortly before the incident, which proved fatal for Bahadur Singh.

While the railway authorities are yet to ascertain the sequence of events leading to the mishap, it is being suspected that the driver of the tractor trailer did not notice the train coming from Malerkotla side, which split the tractor trolley filled with clay.

The train remained stranded at Kila Raipur railway station till the technical staff announced the engine fit for working after clearing sand and clay from its interior parts.