Kanchanjunga Express Accident in West Bengal Live Updates: Two more die, death toll in Kanchenjunga train accident rises to 10

Subhajit Mali, a 31-year-old man from Kolkata, died in a train accident near New Jalpaiguri while returning home from Siliguri earlier than planned to celebrate his daughter Sristi's 11th birthday. He had promised her a celebration and had spoken to her affectionately just before boarding the ill-fated Kanchanjunga Express. Subhajit, known for his helpful nature, worked in the northern states and had rushed back by train due to his daughter's birthday. His sudden death has left his family, including his elderly parents, wife, and two children, devastated. His father mourned deeply, expressing a wish for support for his daughter-in-law.

The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) held a candle march on Tuesday to honor the victims of the Kanchanjunga Express train accident in West Bengal's Darjeeling district. The accident, which occurred on Monday near Rangapani station, involved a goods train crashing into the stationary Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express, resulting in the deaths of at least nine people, including the goods train pilot and the passenger train guard, and injuring 41 others. IYC president Srinivas BV noted that there have been 1,117 rail accidents in the past decade, leading to significant loss of life and property.

Various railway employee unions have raised objections to the railway ministry's initial response to the West Bengal train tragedy, which prima facie blamed the driver of the goods train for the accident. The goods train had collided with the Kanchanjunga Express from the rear, resulting in the death of ten people, including the driver, and injuring 40 others near New Jalpaiguri on Monday.

The unions argued that blaming the driver, who cannot defend himself, unfairly makes him a scapegoat for the systemic shortcomings of the Railways. Shiva Gopal Mishra, general secretary of the All India Railway Men's Federation (AIRF), criticized the Railway Board's statement, calling it highly insensitive to claim that the driver overshot a red signal, causing the accident.

"The Railways is trying to blame the driver of the goods train, who has lost his life, and is trying to divert the attention from its failure. The entire safety and security system has collapsed, and accidents are happening regularly. The Railways needs to be revived, and the PM, the Railway Minister and the government should take the moral responsibility," says TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on Kanchanjunga Express accident.

"Restoration work is underway. Some properties will be shifted, the faults on the tracks will be fixed. It will take some time to return to normalcy," said Kamal Singh.

A passenger traveling on the Kanchenjunga Express during the accident on June 17 has filed a complaint against the loco pilot and co-loco pilot of the goods train.

The goods train allegedly ignored a signal and collided with the Sealdah-bound Kanchenjunga Express near North Bengal's Jalpaiguri station at 8.55 am on Monday. The accident occurred in the Phansidewa area of Darjeeling district.

Train services at Rangapani near West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri station resumed on Tuesday after intensive repair work, according to a senior official. The services were disrupted on Monday morning due to an accident involving a goods train colliding with the Agartala-Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express from behind.

The divisional railway manager of Katihar, S Kumar, stated that train services in the down line were restored on Monday night. In the up line, diesel locomotive-run train services were restarted on Tuesday morning.

He further mentioned that electric locomotives in the up line would resume operations within an hour.

Two passengers succumbed to their injuries on Tuesday at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. This brings the total number of fatalities to 10 following the accident that occurred near New Jalpaiguri station the previous day, where a goods train collided with the passenger train from behind.Dr Sandeep Kumar Sengupta, the dean of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, stated, "Yesterday, 37 people were admitted, two were not in a bad state and were discharged. Two people were serious, unfortunately, we couldn't save them and both died today. They were on ventilators. Whoever has multiple organ injuries, it cannot be said that their situation is good. We don't know their health history and if they are accident victims, in such cases we have to be more cautious."Among the two individuals who passed away this morning was a child who had been on ventilator support. The hospital is exercising caution in treating the accident victims, as their health histories are unknown, and multiple organ injuries can lead to unpredictable outcomes.

The statutory inquiry into the Kanchenjunga Express tragedy, which resulted in the loss of eight lives and left 25 people injured, will be conducted by Janak Kumar Garg, the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety for Northeast Frontier Railway. The inquiry is scheduled to commence at 10 am on June 19 in the chamber of the ADRM/NJP and may be extended if necessary, as per an official press release.

The official communication stated, "Members of the public having knowledge relating to the incident and any other matter connected therewith may appear and tender evidence at the inquiry on the dates mentioned or write to the chief commissioner of railway safety."

Following the accident on June 17, several trains were cancelled, while others were diverted. However, train services have now resumed from the Phansidewa area of the Darjeeling district, where the tragic incident occurred.

"After the restoration of the UP line at 17:40 hrs yesterday, the DOWN line was restored today at 07:30 hrs completing the entire restoration process. Avadh Assam express was the first train to pass the accident site on the DOWN line at 10:42 hrs today," said Northeast Frontier Railways in a post on X.

The unaffected coaches of the Kanchanjunga Express finally reached Sealdah station in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The train, which was scheduled to arrive at 7.20 pm on Monday, was delayed by eight hours, pulling into the station at 3.16 am.

An Eastern Railway official said that throughout the journey, the distressed passengers were provided with essential services such as medical care, food, and water at various stations, including Malda town and Sealdah. The Eastern Railway official assured that these measures were taken to alleviate the suffering of the passengers who had endured the trauma and horror of the accident.

Upon arrival at Sealdah station, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, West Bengal Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty, and Divisional Railway Manager of Sealdah division Deepak Nigam were present to ensure the smooth dispersal of the passengers and their safe onward journey to their respective homes.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, strongly criticized the central government for various shortcomings in the railway system. She pointed out the absence of anti-collision devices in trains, the increase in railway fares, inadequate passenger amenities, negligence, and the lack of proper care for railway employees. Banerjee also expressed her disapproval of the decision to discontinue the Railway budget. On the other hand, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Railway Minister, prioritized passenger safety and restoration efforts in his response to the incident.Banerjee expressed her discontent with the current state of the Railways, stating, "The Railways has become parent-less and has lost its beauty and glory," further adding that "passenger amenities have been reduced while polls are rigged."She also remarked on the absence of a dedicated Railway budget, saying, "There is no Railway budget anymore. You can see Railways at the time of inaugurations. It has become a fashion-statement of sorts."Furthermore, Banerjee asserted that during her tenure as the Railway Minister, anti-collision devices were introduced and successfully installed in the Konkan Railways.

Railway authorities have announced the cancellation and diversion of several trains on Tuesday following the tragic Kanchenjunga Express accident that resulted in the loss of eight lives and left 25 people injured.

The Northeast Frontier Railways released an official statement, confirming the cancellation of five trains for the day. These include (15719) Katihar-Siliguri Intercity Express, (15720) Siliguri-Katihar Intercity Express, (12042) New Jalpaiguri-Howrah Shatabdi Express, (12041) Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Express, and (15724) Siliguri-Jogbani Intercity Express.

Furthermore, the release by Sabyasachi De, Chief Public Relations officer of Northeast Frontier Railways, stated that train number 12523, the New Jalpaiguri to New Delhi Superfast Express, has been rescheduled to depart at 12.00 hrs.

In addition to the cancellations and rescheduling, the railways have also diverted several trains, including train number 20504 from New Delhi--Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express, 13176 from Silchar--Sealedah Kanchanjungha Express, and 12523 from New Jalpaiguri--New Delhi Superfast Express.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has started a probe into the cause of the accident in which a goods train rammed into the Kanchanjunga Express from behind in West Bengal's Rangapani on Monday morning. Vaishnaw added that measures will be taken to prevent a recurrence of the circumstances that led to the accident..

He stressed that restoring train operations on the critical route connecting northeast India with the rest of the country is a top priority for the railways.

"The accident will be thoroughly investigated by the Commissioner of Railway Safety," Vaishnaw told reporters at the accident site in Rangapani near New Jalpaiguri station in Siliguri.

Kanchenjunga Express train met with an accident in the Phansidewa area of the Darjeeling district, yesterday. 8 people died and around 25 got injured in the accident.

Villagers, armed with household utensils like tongs, and work instruments like hammers and shovels, were the first responders at the accident site on Monday, managing to bring out most of the injured and the dead from the bogies amidst heavy rain, hours before railway men and trained rescue personnel from NDRF reached the site.According to locals involved in rescue operations, a railway team reached the spot and engaged in rescue operations only at 10.45am, nearly two hours after the accident. They also said the NDRF team arrived an hour later, around noon, by which time nearly all injured had been rescued and most bodies retrieved.

Theories about a possible signalling discrepancy being responsible for a goods train rear-ending the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjungha Express in north Bengal Monday contrasted with the official version put out by Railway Board chairperson and CEO Jaya Varma Sinha, blaming "human error" by the deceased loco pilot of the cargo rake for the disaster.The Railway Board chief told reporters in New Delhi that, prima facie, the loco pilot of the goods train disregarded a PLCT, or paper line clear ticket, before hitting the passenger train from the rear. "There were two parcel vans ahead, because of which there was no more damage than what has already happened."A copy of the PLCT (T/A 912) issued to the loco pilot by the stationmaster of Rangapani surfaced later in the day, authorising him to cross all red signals. "Automatic signalling has failed and you are hereby authorised to pass all automatic signals between RNI (Rangapani Railway Station) and CAT (Chater Hat Junction)," the note states.

: It was 8.50am on a wet Monday morning. Kamal Chowdhury was sitting in the lower berth of S9 coach of the ill-fated Sealdah-bound Kanchenjunga Express sipping his morning tea when the train suddenly lurched forward with great force. The impact was so powerful that his 11-year-old nephew Rajat, who was still asleep, was thrown off the upper berth into his lap."The train came to an abrupt halt, with passengers thrown about here and there. In a matter of seconds, the quiet compartment was filled with screams of panic-stricken and injured passengers," Chowdhury, a senior journalist from Tripura, recounted on the phone. He was travelling to Bengal's Nadia district along with six of his family members to attend a wedding."From the window, I could see a horde of people rushing towards the train. I got down to find out what had happened," he said. The scene that unfolded before him was of chaos and confusion, as two carriages of another train had mounted the rear of Kanchenjunga Express.Only a few passengers were awake at the time of the accident. "Everyone in our coach was injured. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in our coach," he said.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose visited the injured from the Kanchenjunga Express train accident at North Bengal Medical College and emphasized the need for all stakeholders to unite during this crisis. "I saw the patients and discussed with the doctors, the situation is under control. They are being given the best treatment. They are being given the best medical facilities. This is a tragedy in which we will all stand together. All steps will be taken for the rehabilitation of those admitted to the hospital," Bose said.

A passenger of the Sealdah-Kanchanjunga Express, standing near a damaged coach, described that their train was traveling slowly as it approached Rangapani, a short distance from New Jalpaiguri. "Our train was moving at a very gentle pace when we reached Rangapani, just a few kilometers from New Jalpaiguri," he recounted.

Talking to the reporters Mamata said, "I started so many things, but they are only doing publicity of Vande Bharat trains. Where is Duronto Express? After the Rajdhani Express, Duronto was the fastest train...Today, the entire Railway Department is facing negligence. I feel proper care must be taken of the Railway Ministry...Right after the incident took place, state govt provided medical team, disaster teams, Ambulance and everything possible to normalise the situation..."

Internal documents reveal that the goods train involved in the collision with the Kanchanjunga Express in West Bengal on Monday was permitted to pass all red signals due to a failure in the automatic signalling system. According to a railway source, the station master at Ranipatra issued a written authority, known as TA 912, to the goods train driver, granting permission to cross all red signals. "Automatic Signalling has failed and you are hereby authorized to pass all automatic signals between RNI (Ranipatra Railway Station) and CAT (Chattar Hat Junction)," the authority letter said.

In the aftermath of the Kanchanjunga Express accident, Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav visited North Bengal Medical College and Hospital to meet with those injured in the rail incident.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the site of the train collision at Rangapani near New Jalpaiguri station in West Bengal to assess the situation firsthand. Due to the narrow road, Ashwini traveled on the pillion of a motorbike for part of the journey to reach the accident site. Talking to the reporters, Vaishnaw said, "Commission of Railway Safety will conduct a thorough investigation. Rescue operation has concluded and now the focus is on restoration, this is the main line. We will identify the reason behind this accident and will take proper preventive measures for the future."

The death toll in the Kanchanjungha express accident rose to 15 and over 60 were injured. Authorities cautioned that the casualty count might escalate, as state and central agencies, in tandem with local volunteers, were engaged in intensive efforts to rescue any passengers still potentially trapped inside. According to a senior railway official, those who lost their lives include the pilot and co-pilot of the goods train.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda said, "On behalf of Congress, I would like to express my grief over the death of 15 people who were killed in a train accident in Jalpaiguri. In the last 10 years, there has been an increase in rail accidents, and this is a result of the mismanagement of the Centre. Today's incident is an example of this. As a responsible opposition, we will raise questions over this in the Parliament."

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the central government for the Kanchanjungha train accident that killed at least 8.

Talking to the reporters, she said, "They (Railway Ministry) don't care about passenger amenities. They don't even care about railway officials, railway engineers, railway technical staff and workers. They are also in trouble. Their old pension has been withdrawn. I am completely with the railway employees and railway officials. They are trying their best. But this government only cares about the election. How to go for hacking, how to go for manipulation, how to go for rig the election... I think they should give more time for the governance, not for utterance."

Jaya Varma Sinha, Chairman & CEO of Railway Board, confirmed that the Kanchanjunga Express, which tragically collided with a goods train on Monday, resulting in at least 8 deaths and over 20 injuries, did not have the anti-collision system 'Kavach' installed. Regarding the cause of the accident, Sinha indicated that initial findings suggest it may have been due to "signal disregard." She emphasized that further details would emerge only after a thorough investigation. Sinha underscored the importance of installing 'Kavach' to mitigate human errors in such incidents.

Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reached Bagdogra airport. He will shortly visit the site of Kanchenjunga Express train accident in Darjeeling district. Around 9 am, the incident occurred near Rangapani, near New Jalpaiguri station. A railway source reported that the automatic signaling system between Ranipatra Railway Station and Chattar Hat Junction in West Bengal had been malfunctioning since 5.50am. This issue led to the collision between a goods train and the Sealdah Kanchanjungha Express from behind.

"Mamata Banerjee and the central government will tackle the rail accident incident. They claim that everything is alright. Murder, rapes are happening everyday. He (Devesh Chandra Thakur) has not won only because of Rajput votes. The central government is responsible for train accident."

Three railway employees, including Asish Dey, the guard of the Kanchanjunga Express, Anil Kumar, the loco pilot of a goods train, and Munna Kumar, the assistant loco pilot of the goods train, lost their lives. They were among the eight individuals who perished in the unfortunate accident.

The ill-fated train commenced its journey from Agartala at 8 am on June 16 and departed from Guwahati station at approximately 11 pm on the same day.
The location of the accident was reported to be around 10-12 km away from the New Jalpaiguri railway station (NJP).

Sabyasachi De, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of NF Railway, stated that the 19 coaches of Kanchanjanga Express that were not impacted by the incident have already departed for Maldah, carrying approximately 1300 passengers.

According to De, the accident occurred due to a breach in the safe distance between trains on the automatic territory. However, the reason behind this breach is yet to be determined and is currently under investigation.

"8 deaths, 25 injured in this accident. Prima facie suggests human error as the cause. The first indications suggest that this is a case of signal disregard. Kavach needs to proliferated, planned for West Bengal," Jaya Varma Sinha, Chairman & CEO Railway Board.

NF Railway headquarters here said that so far there are reports of eight deaths and about 25 injured in the early morning train mishap where the 13174 DN Silchar-Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express was hit from the rear by a container freight train.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in the train accident near New Jalpaiguri which involved the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express and a goods train in West Bengal on Monday. At least eight people were killed and several others have been injured in the accident so far.

Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "Continuously there has been a list of such heart-wrenching incidents...But the government, ministry or minister has not learnt anything...Now that the ministers are going there (incident site) they will make a reel and will garner appreciation for it. We belong to a party when leaders resigned after such rail accidents. We have set such examples...It is your duty to go (at the incident site). Why are such incidents happening?..."

On West Bengal train accident, railways minister Ashwinin Vaishnaw said, "Enchanced ex-gratia compensation will be provided to the victims - Rs 10 lakhs in case of death and Rs 2.5 lakhs towards grievous and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries."

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista is present at the train accident site in Ruidhasa, Darjeeling district of West Bengal. 8 people died after Kanchenjunga Express train was hit by a goods train this morning.

"A goods train collided with the Kanchanjunga Express due to which engine of the goods train was damaged while three compartments of another train have been derailed. As of now, we have recovered five bodies. Nearly 25 people have received injuries but not fatal. We have rescued them with the help of RPF and locals who have been very helpful. We are keeping the luggage in safe custody," says Kurseong Additional SP Abhishek Roy on Kanchanjunga Express train accident

He said, "It's a very tragic accident causing deaths of number of people. Our party expresses its sympathies to the affected people. Railway Ministry has to address certain larger issues. This is not going to be the last. Train accidents are taking place. How we take care of the security of railway tracks, the strength of tracks and signalling system, whether we have adequate manpower or not, there are several questions. Earlier, railway used to have a separate budget. The BJP merged it with general budget. Railway is the largest transport system in country. People prefer train journeys. We need to address many issues on priority. The Railway Minister must give priority to track and signal maintenance. They should extend all possible help for rehabilitation."

The Kanchanjungha Express, a train that operates from Silchar, Assam, to Sealdah, Kolkata.
The incident occurred in the vicinity of Rangapani station, situated near New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal.
Container train overshoot signal and hit rear portion of Kanchanjunga train
⁠Kanchanjunga coach has two parcel van and guard coach in near .
NDRF , Divisional team and 15 Ambulance reached the site
Five passengers have died
More than 30 injured in the accident

CPRO North East Frontier Railway Sabyasachi De said on the train accident near New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.

“There are eight casualties and 25 non-fatal injuries. They are receiving treatment at the nearby medical centers.”

The Prime Minister's Office of India issued a statement regarding the recent railway accident in West Bengal. According to the PMO, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident will receive an ex-gratia payment of Rs. 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

The statement read, "PM Modi has announced that an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased in the railway mishap in West Bengal. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000."

"The railway accident in West Bengal is saddening. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to officials and took stock of the situation. Rescue operations are underway to assist the affected. The Railways Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw Ji is on the way to the site of the mishap as well": PM Modi said in a post on X.