At Least 23 Killed After Utkal Express Derails, FIR Registered

13 coaches of Kalinga Utkal Express were derailed at Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar on Saturday evening.

(Photo: PTI)

A day after Kalinga Utkal Express derailed near Muzaffarnagar on Saturday, an FIR has been lodged against unknown persons under various sections, including 304A (death due to negligence). The accident has claimed the life of 23 people and 156 have been injured.

Earlier, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had directed the chairman of the Railway Board to fix responsibility on "prima facie evidence by the end of day" for the derailment. He had ordered an inquiry into the accident.

The railways have deployed high-tech cranes and scores of workers to clear the tracks near Khatauli.

Two 140-tonne cranes were being used from early morning on Sunday to clear the derailed coaches, from which survivors had been rescued and bodies pulled out till late Saturday night.

Onlookers gathered at the accident site to help the survivors and the NDRF team on the spot as two coaches were hauled off the track and placed on the ground. Linesmen and other workers shovelled away stones as new concrete sleepers were laid to reinforce the tracks.

Minister Prabhu has directed senior officials and medical personnel to provide assistance to injured passengers and all possible help to the relatives of the affected passengers. He also announced a Rs 3.5-lakh ex-gratia compensation to the next of kin of those who lost their lives, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who received minor injuries.

The injured have been taken to hospitals in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, and both the Railways and the local administration have issued helplines.

Trains passing through the Meerut line of the Northern Railway have either been cancelled or diverted.

(With inputs from PTI)

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

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