CBCI Condoles Train Accident Deaths In Punjab

New Delhi – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has condoled the death of 38 people in an accident involving two passenger trains in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab on December 14, 2004.

A head–on collision between the south–bound Jammu–Tawi–Ahmedabad Express and a DMU passenger train travelling from Jalandhar to Pathankot on Tuesday killed at least 36 people, including 12 women and four children. More than 200 people were injured in the accident, which occurred around noon near Mukerian in north Punjab, aorund 250 km from Chandigarh.

Inexplicably, both trains were travelling on the same track towards each other with speed when the accident occurred. Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who rushed to the accident site from New Delhi, described the deaths as "brutal murder" and promised that action would be taken against those responsible for the lapse.

According to news reports, human error was the cause of the fatal accident. The station masters at Pathankot and Mukerian, both of whom have been suspended pending a report from the official inquiry ordered by Mr Yadav, bear direct responsibility since they allowed the simultaneous movement of the two trains on a single track.

The impact of the collision was so great that the front coach of the Jammu–Tawi Express was thrown up and climbed on top of the engine. The coach remained precariously dangling atop the mangled engine even as rescue workers began extricating the dead bodies and the injured passengers.

Like scores of such moments in the past, local villagers, who heard a loud crashing sound, were the first to rush in and provide immediate relief to the victims.

Local military units and civil administration rescue teams quickly moved in to help the injured and remove the dead from the mangled mess of steel. The dead bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital at Dasuya amd Mukerian, where teams of surgeons worked round the clock to complete post–mortem examinations.

The injured were shifted to numerous hospitals proximal to the accident site. As many as 72 victims are stated to have sustained serious, possibly life–threatening injuries. At least one Army soldier died in the accident while several others were injured. The victims mainly included migratory laborers, military personnel and several pilgrims on their way home from the Vaishno Devi shrine near Jammu.

In a condolence message, CBCI Spokesperson Fr. Babu Joseph termed the accident “tragic and unfortunate.” “It is terrible that the mishap has led to the death of so many passengers. The Church extends its sorrowful condolences to the victims of the train accident,” he said.

“We pray to God that He may give courage and strength to those who have lost their beloved ones in the train accident,” Fr. Joseph said.

The Railways has announced an ex–gratia of Rs 100,000 to the next of the kin of those dead and Rs 15,000 each to those grievously injured and Rs 5000 to those with minor injuries.