Keonjhar, Aug. 31: At least five people are feared dead following a head-on collision between two goods trains at Tangiriapal railway station in Keonjhar district late last night.

Although, only one body has been recovered so far, officials engaged in the rescue operations suspect that a total of five people, including two locomotive drivers, two assistant drivers and a locomotive inspector, might have died in the accident. The mishap occurred around 1.45am on Wednesday at Tangiripali between Keonjhar and Banspani railway stations under East Coast Railway when an iron ore-laden freight train from Joda in Keonjhar heading towards Haridaspur collided with an empty goods train.

“Around five railway personnel were in both the goods trains. Although we have recovered just one body from the spot, there are likely to be five causalities,” said Sanjaya Garg, divisional railway manager of Khurda Division, who has camped at the site.

“An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. As it appears from our preliminary investigation, the iron ore-laden train, which was coming from Joda, had ignored the signal. But the exact cause can be ascertained only after the inquiry report is available,” said Garg, adding that rescue operations were on.

Ten bogies of the two trains have derailed and the engines of both trains have been badly damaged. Some portions of the railway track, too, have been damaged. However, the accident caused little impact on rail traffic as the route is mostly used for goods trains. Inter-City express trains between Puri and Banspani have been cancelled

“It is a single line track and mostly used for the transportation of minerals,” Garg said. An emergency rescue vehicle has been pressed into service. Railway officials, local villagers and police from both Keonjhar and Jajpur districts have been engaged in rescue work.