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Regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Hit by crane, cable post falls on train

2 passengers were injured and taken to hospital

Our Special Correspondent Kidderpore Published 25.10.19, 08:37 PM
The train after the accident

The train after the accident (Picture sourced by correspondent)

A cable post along the circular railway tracks near Kidderpore station fell on a local train after being hit by a crane on Friday evening.

Two passengers were injured and taken to hospital, said a railway official.

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The accident happened around 5.43pm, after the Majerhat-Habra local train just left Kidderpore station and was headed towards Prinsep Ghat.

“A crane working in the port area near the railway tracks hit the post supporting cables that supply power to local trains. The post got bent and hit a coach of the train,” said a railway official.

The train was stopped and the passengers were evacuated. Two of them — Tapan Das, 46, and Sanjib Mondal, 29 — were injured and taken to BR Singh Hospital in Sealdah.

“They suffered minor cuts. An X-ray shows they have not suffered any fracture. The two have been kept under observation and will be discharged soon,” said an official of the hospital.

An official of Calcutta Port Trust said the crane was being operated by a private cargo handling agent. “It was unloading cargo from a private vessel when the accident occurred,” the official said.

“The sling wire, which was attached to the crane’s hook, got snapped while lifting cargo from the container and the boom of the crane fell on the post along the tracks.... An inquiry has been ordered. Suitable action will be taken after the report is submitted.”

The train was stranded for several hours before being taken to Barasat around 8.45pm, a railway official said. Work to repair overhead wires continued till late in the night.

Circular Railway services between Majerhat and Prinsep Ghat were suspended.

In August 2016, the giant arm of a 150-tonne crane deployed for East-West Metro work crashed on platform 14 at Howrah station, 10 minutes after a crowded local train had pulled out of an adjoining platform.

No one was injured as only a handful of people were on the platform when the arm crashed.

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