00:00Hello there, this is me Ansh Pandey and you're watching One India English.
00:04Last year in June, the world was in shock when a tragic train accident,
00:07one of the deadliest actually, when three trains involving
00:11in this accident left 296 people dead and over 1200 injured in Orissa's Balasore.
00:17Now exactly one year later, another tragedy has struck India
00:21and this could be grim in similar ways.
00:24At least five people are dead and more than 35 are injured in this tragic accident
00:29according to the latest reports in Bengal's New Jalpaiguri.
00:33The accident happened when a goods train rammed into the Seelda bound
00:38Kanchanjanga Express on Monday morning near the New Jalpaiguri railway station.
00:42The accident, according to the latest reports,
00:45took place at around 9am in the morning, the divisional railway manager announced.
00:49The train had just left the New Jalpaiguri station
00:52and it was heading towards Malda when this accident happened.
00:56According to the Railway Ministry's official statement,
00:59five passengers are dead and over 2025 people are officially injured
01:03and the situation is quite serious.
01:05The accident occurred when a goods train rammed into Kanchanjanga Express.
01:09Abhishek Roy, the additional SP of the Darjeeling Police announced.
01:13And so now a rescue operation is also underway
01:16and even the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has stated
01:19that he is cooperating fully over the accident and he is doing this on war footing.
01:25But everyone is raising some serious concerns about this accident
01:29that why has it happened again just one year later on similar grounds.
01:34Well, if we talk some initial assessment and media reports that are circulating online,
01:39these are some reasons that are erupting on media.
01:42First one, according to the media reports, the visibility, the low visibility was one big reason.
01:48A bogie got mangled after Kanchanjanga Express collided into freight train due to
01:52heavy rainfall which was disrupting the visibility.
01:56And due to low visibility as heavy rains continue in the area,
01:59the freight train missed the signal and eventually rammed into the Kanchanjanga Express.
02:06Another big aspect that is circulating on the social media and actually some media
02:11reports are also claiming is that there was no rail coverage system installed on this route.
02:18Eastern Railways officials have progressed significantly in implementing coverage across
02:23the Howrah-Chota-Ambana section covering approximately 150 out of 260 route kilometers.
02:29The trials have been conducted, the infrastructure has been deployed,
02:33but a full deployment on this route is still missing.
02:37Moreover, over 46 locomotives of the Eastern Railways are also equipped with this anti-train
02:42collision prevention system. But sadly, nothing of this was either equipped in the freight train
02:47and also in the Kanchanjanga Express. And so, as a result, as we talk to you now,
02:52approximately five people are being reported dead and more than 40 are now injured.
02:57Some are critically injured. President Draupadi Murmu has also expressed
03:01shock over the incident and the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav is going to arrive shortly on
03:07the accident site. This accident indeed raises some serious questions over the government
03:12preparedness which claims that there have been no big accidents over the last 10 years in its
03:18tenure. But in the last two years, these two big train accidents serve as a reminder that
03:24it is a big test that the government of India has to pass.
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