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Mumbai, Jul 20 (IANS): A 65-year-old woman has been killed, while 14 others have been injured after the speeding Vidarbha Express rammed into 11 derailed coaches of a Mumbai suburban train in Maharashtra's Thane district late Thursday. A probe has been ordered, officials said here Friday.
Even as relief work was going on in full swing under the supervision of senior officials at the scene of the double accident between Kasara and Umbermali, normal operations have been severely hit on the Central Railway suburban and long-distance network.
The accident occurred around 9.15 p.m., when a coach of the Kasara-CST suburban local train derailed and fell across the parallel railway line owing to heavy rains and a landslide in the area, a Central Railway official said.
Barely two-three minutes later, the speeding 12105 Mumbai-Gondia Vidarbha Express from the opposite direction (on the adjacent line) rammed into the derailed bogies scattered on its route towards Kasara.
As a result, the engine of the express train derailed and tracks were blocked from both the sides, hampering services.
The commissioner of railway safety will probe the accident, the official added.
At present, suburban services and long-distance trains are being operated only till Asangaon on the CST-Satara section and efforts were on to clear the tracks.
Early morning commuters to Mumbai faced problems on account of train delays and cancellations of services.
Railway Minister Mukul Roy early Friday announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh for the dead passenger, identified as Shakeela Qureshi, Rs.1 lakh to four seriously injured and Rs.25,000 each to 10 others who sustained minor injuries.
The railways will take care of all the medical expenses of the victims, four of whom are admitted to a private hospital in Nashik and the remaining 10 in a Kasara hospital, the railways said.
Incessant heavy rains in the Thane-Raigad belt were hampering the rescue and relief operations which are likely to continue till late Friday.
The Central Railway has set up two helpline numbers for information about the victims. The numbers are: 020-22694040/10720.
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