Two run over by train in Jharkhand’s Jamtara were not passengers: Railways

New Delhi, February 23

The Railways has denied that two people run over by a train at Jamtara in Jharkhand were passengers.

Initial reports about the mishap said passengers travelling on the Anga Express from Bhagalpur to Bengaluru got off the train as rumours of a fire on board spread panic. As they tried to run across the tracks to escape the fire, another train running on the route ran them over near the Kalajharia railway station. Two people lost their lives as a result.

The Railways, however, said in a statement that train no. 12254 (Anga Express) passing between Vidyasagar Kasitar at km 269/19 stopped due to alarm chain pulling at a location falling under Asansol Division of Eastern Railway (ER) at seven in the evening (1900 hours)

“At 1907 hrs two persons, who are walking on the track, were run over on up line by MEMU train at least two km away where the train (Anga Express) had stopped”, the ER said.

“There is no incident of fire”, Eastern Railway chief public relations officer Kaushik Mitra said. He said the two victims were labourers hired for unloading of ballasts for railway tracks.

A three-member committee under a junior administrative grade (JAG) officer has been formed by the Railways to probe the mishap, Mitra said.

A probe under a JAG is ordered when people affected by a train mishap are not passengers. In case of death of one or more passengers in a train accident, the probe is entrusted to the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).

BJP MP Nishikant Dube, who represents Godda Lok Sabha constituency of Jharkhand, also said in a statement that the two who died in the mishap were labourers and not passengers.