Ghanpur (Warangal), June 4 :     At least eight persons were killed and 25 injured when the Hyderabad-bound Godavari Express from Visakhapatnam was derailed early this morning between Ghanpur and Uppuguda, about 110 km from Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh minister of state for primary education Devineni Venkataramana was among those who died in the accident. The minister?s body, trapped in an air-conditioned first class coach, was identified by his brother Chandrasekhar, who was travelling on the same train. Chief Provident Fund Commissioner R.S. Kaushik, the minister?s cousin Suresh, one of his gunmen, his driver Kanta Rao and a naval officer?s wife ? all of whom were in the first class car ? met with the same fate. Railway sources said efforts were being made to cut open the mangled air-conditioned first class coach in which the minister and 16 others were travelling. The railway authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident. According to survivors, badly welded coupling had caused the engine to cut loose from the 14 bogies of the train after it crossed Ghanpur station. The engine driver stopped at the next station and raised an alarm for help. The other version is sabotage by terrorists. The air-conditioned first class coach had to bear the brunt of the derailment as two second class A/C sleepers had piled up on it. ?The first class coach was partly buried, about three feet into the ground, which made rescue difficult,? said P.V. Ranga Rao, a ticket checker who was in one of the second class A/C coaches. Another senior bureaucrat in the first class coach, A. Priyadarshi, said people in the compartment were crying out for help until about 6 am, after which ?all fell silent?. As the accident occurred around 3 am, most of the passengers were asleep and unaware of the disaster ahead. Ramakrishna, a passenger in a general compartment, said: ?There was a huge crashing noise, the passengers were thrown off their berths and the coach was engulfed in total darkness.? The accident could have been far worse if the engine driver had not managed to raise an alarm in time. In that case, the Godavari Express would have been hit from behind by two early morning trains crossing the Kazipet junction, causing a massive pile-up. Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has flown to the accident site. He will supervise the shifting of the minister?s body to his native town of Kanchikacherla in Krishna district. The chief minister offered his helicopter to airlift an injured woman who was in a second A/C sleeper. The rest of the injured passengers were being transported to Hyderabad by a special train. Railway minister Nitish Kumar arrived on the spot and ordered an inquiry into the mishap. The minister has announced an ex gratia of Rs 25,000 to the family of each victim. Andhra Pradesh Governor C. Rangarajan has expressed deep shock at the accident and sent a separate message condoling the death of Venkataramana. Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, an Andhra Pradesh leader, has also expressed grief. South-Central Railway has rescheduled train services in the Kazipet-Secunderabad section.