Enquiry counter damaged by passengers
Delay in a train’s departure allegedly led to vandalism of the enquiry counter of the South Eastern Railway at Howrah station today.
Three passengers were killed and at least 40 others suffered grave wounds after a portion of an iron vintage overhead water tank collapsed on the platform and railway tracks in Burdwan Junction Railway Station just at midday, today. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav declared Rs 5 lakh compensation for the deceased’s dependents this afternoon.
Railway authorities also disbursed Rs 50,000 each as initial treatment cost for the injured. The mishap pointed at the alleged negligence in maintenance. The Eastern Railway authorities claimed that the overhead tank underwent annual restoration on 2 December.
Kaushik Mitra, chief public relations officer, ER, said, “A fact-finding committee is already there to detect the reason behind the collapse and negligence, if any and is likely to table a report within three days.” The tank had a storage capacity of 53,800 gallons. The mishap occurred between Platforms 2 & 3 at 12.05pm when hundreds of commuters were waiting for their trains. The western wall of the tank fell down.
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The iron block fell on the platform sheds, broke asbestos cover and came crashing down, leading to injuries. The deceased were identified as Kanti Bahadur (16) of Sahibganj, Bihar, Sonoram Tudu (address not found) and Mafuza Khatun (35) of Lakurdi locality in Burdwan town. Thirty three others are under medical supervision at the hospital.
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