Six people have died in a train accident on the Vizianagaram-Visakhapatnam line of East Coast Railway on Sunday, October 29. Three coaches were involved in the accident in which two passenger trains starting from Visakhapatnam ‘overshot’, and eighteen persons were injured as a result, according to information shared by Railways officials. According to the Chief Minister's Office, four bogies were derailed in the incident. Helplines related to the accident are 0674-2301625, 2301525, 2303069 for Bhubaneswar, and 0891-2885914 for Waltair, East Coast Railways has announced.
The train accident happened when two passenger trains – Visakhapatnam-Palasa (train no. 08532) and Visakhapatnam-Rayagada (08504) – collided between Alamanda and Kantakapalle in Vizianagram district, along the Vizianagaram-Kottavalasa section of Waltair Division of East Coast Railway, on the Howrah-Chennai Main Line. Rescue operations have begun, with the local administration and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) summoned for assistance and ambulances. Accident relief trains have also reached the site. Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Saurabh Prasad is overseeing the rescue and relief operations.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has ordered officials to send as many ambulances as possible from Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli, the nearest districts of Vizianagaram, and to make arrangements in nearby hospitals, the CMO said.