Kolkata, May 31 (IANS) Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday demanded a high-level inquiry into the Doon Express derailment in Uttar Pradesh, which left four people dead and over 10 injured.
“It is really a sad incident. The train accident happened on such a day when a shutdown is going on throughout the country. The railways should conduct a inquiry into the accident,” she said.
“During my tenure as railway minister, I had witnessed the Gyaneshwari Express (accident in West Bengal). So, a proper inquiry should be conducted to find out the reason behind this accident,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee’s comment is politically significant because of the reference of the 2010 Gyaneshwari Express accident which she had earlier termed as the handiwork of Bengal communists. At least 149 people were killed in the accident in Jhargram in West Midnapore district.
She said Trinamool leader and Railway Minister Mukul Roy was on his way to the Doon Express accident site in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district.
Railway Board member A.K. Mishra told IANS in New Delhi that four people had died in the accident and 10 others were injured, some seriously.
District officials who rushed to the accident site told IANS in Uttar Pradesh that the derailment took place a little after noon and that five of the 18 coaches of the train ran off the tracks.
The officials, however, said about 100 passengers sustained minor to major injuries. The condition of four was stated to be serious.
The West Bengal government has opened help lines at the state secretariat as there were several passengers from the state in the train.
