The Railways on Thursday confirmed that four passengers have died and 30 others injured in the derailment of the North East Express train in Bihra's Buxar district.

The East Central Railway CPRO Virendra Kumar said, “The North East Express was derailed at Raghunathpur railway station at 9.53 pm on Wednesday wherein 4 persons were killed and 30 injured. Five of the injured persons have critical conditions and are admitted to the hospitals of Buxar and Patna. A total of 23 coaches were derailed in this mishap,” Kumar said.

“The Indian Railways has given Rs 10 lakh compensation to the family members of deceased, and injured persons were given Rs 50,000 each,” Kumar said.

“We have arranged a special train from Raghunathpur for the passengers. Besides, we have issued helpline numbers at Patna, Danapur Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Barauni, Katihar, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, New Bongaigaon, Rangia, Kamakhya and Guwahati,” he said.

Following the accident, East Central Railway GM Tarun Prakash, Danapur DRM Jayant Kumar Chaudhary and other officers reached Raghunathpur to take control of the situation. The technical teams initiated investigation of the mishap.

“Our technical team started the investigation to ascertain the actual reason for the derailment. An expert committee is formed for the purpose,” Tarun Prakash said.