Seven coaches of Shaktipunj Express derail in UP; no casualties

Lucknow: As many as seven coaches of Shaktipunj Express, enrouted to Howrah from Jabalpur, derailed in the Obra town of the state on Thursday.

There are, however, no casualties reported initially but the derailment has hampered the traffic on the route.

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East Central Railway Spokesperson Rajesh Kumar said, "Government Railway Police (GRP) and local police teams have been deployed to the site and relief work is in progress. Stranded passengers have been shifted to the non-derailed coaches of the train and brought to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh."

According to the eyewitnesses, the accident occurred early morning at 0600 hours due to breakage in the track. Kumar, however, ruled out the possibility of broken tracks, and said, "The matter is under investigation. We can only comment after the enquiry is complete."

It is to be mentioned that this is the fourth derailment in last 30 days and the first one after Piyush Goel took over the charge of the Railway Ministry recently.

Read more about the derailments:

• EXCLUSIVE | Delhi Railway Division control responsible for Utkal derailment
• Kanpur Train Derailment: Police arrests prime suspect and ISI agent Shamsul Huda
• Landslide caused Nagpur-Mumbai Duranto derailment: Railways