15 dead, 100 injured in TN train collision

Chennai: At least 15 people were killed and 100 injured when a local train from here rammed into a stationary passenger train near Arakkonam junction on Tuesday night. 

    The Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment local train crashed into the rear of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train near Sitheri station, 
75 km from Chennai, around 9.20 pm amid heavy rain. 
    Railway officials said the two trains were running on the same track and a signal failure might have led to the accident. 
    The Arakkonam-Katpadi train was waiting for a signal outside Sitheri station, also about 90km from Vellore, when the Chennai-Vellore train hit it. TNN Several bogies derailed in TN mishap, toll may rise 
Chennai: Railway Protection Force sources said several bogies derailed when a Chennai-Vellore local train slammed into the rear of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train waiting for signal outside a station about 75 km from here, raising fears that more than the 15 persons confirmed dead could have been killed. The EMU was the penultimate service from Chennai for the day and was packed with passengers. 
    "One bogie of the Chennai-Vellore train and three bogies of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger appear to have derailed," an official quoted an eyewitness as saying. "There are hundreds of people trapped. Several more are feared dead." 
    Two teams from the National Disaster Response Force accompanied fire and rescue services personnel to the site. But rescue efforts were difficult because of the rain and even had to be stopped for some time. 
    Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi announced ex gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the dead, Rs 1 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for the others. 
    Trivedi said he would leave for the accident site along with junior minister K H Muniyappa and the Railway Board chairman, by the first flight in the morning. 
    He said initial reports seem to suggest the EMU driver may have jumped the red signal, but added that it was too early to speculate. 
    He noted the driver was alive and under treatment and could provide details. But the police said the guard of the passenger train and the driver of the EMU were among the dead. 
CRASH COURSE 
July 31 | 3 killed, 50 hurt as passenger train rams into derailed express train, sparking a fire, in Bengal's Bakharpur 
July 10 | 35 killed as 13 bogies of Kalka Mail derail after driver hits emergency brake. On the same day, over 100 passengers injured as the Guwahati-Puri Express derails after suspected militants triggered an explosion on the tracks near Assam's Rangiya 
July 7 | 38 killed as Mathura Chhapra Exp rams into bus carrying marriage party at unmanned crossing in Kanshiram Nagar (UP)