Bihar Train Derailment: CM Nitish Kumar Assures Help, Announces Rs 4 Lakh Ex Gratia As 4 Die In Mishap

Nitish Kumar announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 Lakh each to families of the people who died after coaches of the North East Express train were derailed in Buxar last night.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the people who died after several coaches of the Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express train were derailed in Buxar last night. At least four passengers lost their lives and 70 others were injured due to the incident that occurred near the Raghunathpur station in Bihar's Buxar district on Wednesday at 9:53 pm. Two AC III Tier coaches had capsized, while four other coaches derailed. Buxar Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar told PTI that four passengers had died in the accident.

Speaking on the incident, Nitish Kumar said, "As soon as we got know about the accident, people have been working...Four people have died...We are going to help everybody".

Earlier, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav issued a statement saying that the departments of disaster management and health have been asked to take immediate steps to ensure the quickest possible relief to as many people as possible.

"I have also spoken to the district magistrates of Buxar and Bhojpur (where Ara is headquartered) with instructions to reach the site at the earliest and speed up relief work," he said. "In Sub-Divisional Hospital Jagdishpur and Shahpur Hospital, District Bhojpur, medical officers and other health workers are ready for rescue and relief operations. Ambulances from Rohtas, Buxar and Bhojpur districts have been sent to the spot," Yadav added.

As the incident occurred, the locals were the first to reach the site to rescue the passengers. Visuals on the television showed locals helping passengers come out of at least two toppled coaches. The visuals also showed a woman passenger in a state of shock being helped out of a coach by locals.

"The train was coming at a normal speed but suddenly we heard a loud sound and a plume of smoke rose out of the train. We rushed to see what happened. We saw that the train had derailed and the AC coaches were the most damaged,” Hari Pathak, a resident told PTI. Several police officials were also seen at the spot helping rescue passengers from the train. Relief measures were initiated immediately after the incident, with ambulances and doctors rushing to the site.