Six people were killed and 19 injured when 11 coaches of a
train derailed in Rajasthan early Saturday, a railway official said.
The Jodhpur-Delhi Mandore Express derailed near Bassi, more
than 40 km from state capital Jaipur, at 1.30 a.m. The train had a total of 22
coaches.
The injured have been admitted in Jaipur SMS Hospital.
"The accident occurred at around 1.30 a.m. between Jhar
and Jathwara station when four air conditioned and seven sleeper coaches got
derailed. Five persons have been killed and 19 others injured in the
accident," a railway spokesperson said.
He said the work to locate trapped passengers is being
undertaken. "We should have complete information in next one or two
hours," he added.
"We have diverted routes of 24 trains and cancelled two
fast passenger trains," the spokesperson said.
IANS talked to some of the passengers travelling in the
train who said the accident took place shortly after leaving Jaipur station.
"The train was on its way to Delhi and was gathering
speed after leaving Jaipur at around 1 a.m. Suddenly we heard a loud sound and
everything started to shake, people sleeping on the upper berths started to
fall down. There was complete chaos," said Priyanka, a woman travelling in
the train.
"A lady who was sleeping in front of my berth was so
seriously injured in the accident that she died on the spot," Priyanka
added.
Another passenger said: "I do not remember who took us
out of the coach, I only remember that the glass of emergency window was broken
and we were taken out of our AC coach."