The death toll after a passenger train collision in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district on the night of Sunday, October 29 rose to eight with over 40 others injured. The accident occurred when a passenger train overshot a signal and collided with another passenger train, resulting in the derailment of at least two coaches. The incident took place between Alamanda and Kantakapalli in the Vizianagaram-Kottavalasa railway section of the Waltair division of the East Coast Railway zone. The trains involved were the Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger and the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger Special.
Two coaches from the rear of the Visakhapatnam-Palasa passenger train and the loco of the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger were derailed. The collision was attributed to the overshooting of a signal by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger, likely due to human error. The accident occurred during the night which complicated rescue efforts. Ambulances couldn’t reach the site, so rescue workers had to carry the injured to waiting ambulances. All the injured are from Andhra Pradesh and were transported to hospitals in Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.
Vizianagaram District Collector Naga Laxmi reported that 32 injured were admitted to the Government General Hospital, while one person each was taken to Visakha NRI and Medicover hospitals. Four of the injured were in critical condition and one of them was shifted to Visakhapatnam. State Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Collector Naga Laxmi, and Superintendent of Police Deepika Patil were monitoring rescue operations. Waltair Divisional Railway Manager Saurabh Prasad and officials from East Coast Railway also rushed to the accident site.
In response to the accident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. He spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to assess the situation and expressed condolences to the affected families. Minister Vaishnaw additionally announced assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who lost their lives, Rs 2 lakh towards those with grievous injuries, and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer expressed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members and wished the injured persons a speedy recovery.