PATNA: The coupling of Islampur bound 20802 Magadh Superfast Express broke, splitting the train into two between Twiniganj and Raghunathpur railway stations in Bihar’s Buxar district on September 9. The incident took place around 11.08 am. No causalities or injuries were reported. A senior official in the railways said, “Prima facie the incident appears to be a case of poor maintenance. The railway staff assigned to look after the maintenance did not take notice of the damage in the coupling, leading to the accident.”Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), East Central Railways, Hajipur, Saraswati Chandra said that a relief and technical team rushed to the spot soon after receiving the information about the mishap. He also said that the traffic on the route was restored around 2.25 pm. “All the passengers were safe. All coaches of the train were taken to Raghunathpur railway station,” he added.He said that a high-level inquiry has been set up to inquire into the incident and admitted that the traffic remained disrupted for about three hours due to the mishap.Another senior official posted at Danapur railway division said that it was the duty of the railway employee to inspect the train before its departure from New Delhi railway station. “The exact cause of the mishap will be ascertained after the proper investigation,” he said.Confusion and chaos prevailed among the passengers after the coupling between bogey number 13 and 14 from the engine broke apart. Almost half of the coaches were carried by the engine leaving behind the remaining coaches. Eyewitnesses said that a few passengers who were standing in the passage between the sleeper coaches managed to save themselves.In October last year, four people were killed and several others were injured after 23 coaches of North East Express, on way to Assam from New Delhi, derailed near Raghunathpur railway station on the same stretch around 9.53 pm.
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