Eight killed, 25 injured after two trains collide in West Bengal

At least eight persons were killed and 25 others were injured on Monday after two trains collided near the New Jalpaiguri railway station in West Bengal, ANI reported.

The accident occurred when a goods train collided with the Kanchanjunga Express, which was bound for Sealdah from Agartala. Due to the collision, three rear compartments derailed at around 9 am in the Northeast Frontier Railway zone, PTI reported.

The chairman of the Railway Board, Jaya Varma Sinha, said that the cause of the accident prima face seemed to be human error.

“The first indications suggest that this is a case of signal disregard,” Sinha said, according to ANI.

She said that the loco pilot who allegedly disregarded the signal and the guard of the Kanchenjunga Express died in the accident.

Sinha also said that Kavach, an anti-train collision system, was being integrated on railway routes throughout the country on a “mission mode”, adding that it was being planned for West Bengal this year.

The Kavach sounds an alert when a loco pilot jumps a signal, a leading cause of train collisions. It automatically activates the train braking system if the driver fails to control the train as per the speed restrictions.

Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a social media post that rescue operations were ongoing...

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