Andhra train accident: Toll rises to 13 while 50 injured

Visakhapatnam: The number of casualties in the train accident on the Howrah-Chennai line in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh rose to 13 while 50 people were injured, Superintendent of Police M Deepika said on Monday.

Officials of the East Coast Railway (ECR) said that at around 7 pm on Sunday, the Palasa passenger train hit the Rayagada passenger train from behind at Kantakapalli, about 40 Km from here, causing three coaches to derail.

Biswajit Sahu, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the ECR, last night said at least nine people were killed in the incident.

However, according to the police the death toll on Monday morning rose to 13.

According to the information provided by Vizianagaram Collector S Nagalakshmi, at least 32 people were injured.

A senior railway official has said the injured were being shifted to hospitals in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.

Expressing shock over the incident, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also instructed officials to pay an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh each to the injured from the state.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured from other states, according to an official release.

The ECR has set up helplines.