New Delhi: Three persons were killed and over 30 sustained injuries after a portion of an overhead water tank collapsed on the platform of West Bengal’s Burdwan railway station on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported. The 133-year-old metal water tank collapsed on platforms 2 and 3 of the railway station. Train movement was suspended on Line 1, 2 and 3 following the incident. Three railway employees have been suspended.
"About 12:08 pm, a portion of the side wall of the water tank placed above platform No. 2 & 3 of Burdwan station broke and fell on the platform. Train movement was suspended through line 1, 2 and 3 of Bardhaman as a safety measure. Railway officials and rescue teams rushed to the site,” a statement issued by Eastern Railway said.
All the injured people were rushed to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where two were declared brought dead while another person succumbed to his injuries after a while.
The deceased have been identified as Sonaram Tudu, Kanti Bahadur, and Mafeeza Khatun.
The Eastern Railway formed a three-member committee to probe the matter while West Bengal GRP filed an FIR, PTI reported.
According to a Railway official, compensation of Rs 5 lakh each will be given to the kin of deceased, Rs 50,000 will be given to those seriously injured and Rs 5,000 will be given to those who sustained minor injuries.
Meanwhile, the incident led to a war of words between the ruling TMC in Bengal and the Opposition BJP. The ruling party accused the railways of "insufficient maintenance”, a charge refuted by the latter.
Coming down heavily on the BJP-led government at the Centre, TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said although the government boasts of Vande Bharat trains, it does nothing for the maintenance.
"The BJP talks about Vande Bharat trains but is not doing enough when it comes to maintenance. Will the Railways or the BJP government take responsibility for the death of three persons? This is a complete failure of the Railways,” PTI quoted Ghosh as saying.
However, the Bengal BJP dismissed the allegations. "The TMC has a habit of vulture politics over the dead. An unfortunate incident has taken place. Let the Railways conduct the probe and fix the problem," PTI quoted state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya as saying.