Major train accident averted in Jharkhand

Ranchi: A major train accident was averted at Jharkhand's Bokaro after a tractor crashed the railway gate near the Santhaldih railway crossing when the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (train no. 22812) was passing from there on Tuesday evening, a railway official said.

The incident occurred at the Santhaldih railway crossing, near the Bhojudih railway station, and the tractor got stuck between the railway track and the gate.

"A tractor crashed the railway gate when it was closing at the Santhaldih railway crossing of the Bhojudih railway station in Bokaro district. However, the driver of the train applied the brakes and the train stopped, averting any major accident," Manish Kumar, DRM, Adra Division, South Eastern Railway, told PTI.

Kumar said the incident occurred around 5 pm and the train was delayed by about 45 minutes.

He said the tractor has been seized and an FIR lodged at the police station concerned, while the gate man has been suspended.

The driver of the tractor had fled the spot.

The incident occurred barely days after one of the worst train tragedies in the country at the Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha's Balasore district, which claimed 278 lives and left more than 1,100 people injured after a crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train laden with iron.