29 April,2009 11:56 AM IST | | Agencies
In a bizarre rail accident, an unauthorised man ran an electric train for about seven kms unnoticed before ramming it into a goods train, leaving six people dead and 11 others injured near Vyasarpadi Jeeva station in the city's northwestern suburbs.
As the Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) parked in the Moore Market complex was about to be moved by the unauthorised man, some passengers boarded the train believing it was a regular service, Railway sources said. Southern Railway General Manager M S Jayanth said the train started unauthorisedly half-an-hour earlier than scheduled and went on a wrong line, colliding with a departmental train hauling empty wagons. The train was to start at 5:15 am. How it happened is a matter of inquiry, Jayantan said.
On seeing the fast approaching EMU towards them, two drivers of the goods train jumped off the locomotive. Railway officials at the accident spot said the speed instrument of the EMU showed it had clocked 91 km/h at the time of mishap. While two compartments of the EMU were destroyed in a fire that was triggered by the collision, the rest with a few passengers were thrown off the tracks.
The sources said they were puzzled over the incident as the train had to pass two railway stations including the important Basin Bridge junction. Eleven persons, including two drivers of the goods train, were admitted to different hospitals.
