Fog havoc: 10 die in 3 train
mishaps
N India Paralysed, Blackout
In Three States, Flights Hit
Kanpur/Allahabad: The first
dense fog of the season caused almost zero visibility on
Saturday, resulting in three collisions involving five trains
and a tractortrolley in Uttar Pradesh. Ten people were killed
while 49 others were critically injured in the mishaps.
UP was not the sole victim of the weather gods’ fury. A
thick fog also enveloped Delhi and large swathes of north India,
disrupting flights, leading to chaos on roads and resulting in a
blackout across Punjab, Haryana and J&K as the northern power
grid tripped. With a cable fault compounding the problem, air
services went for a toss in Delhi, leading to delay,
cancellation or diversion of over 250 flights.
Eight women and two men were killed when the
Bhiwani-Gorakhpur Gorakhdham Express rammed into the stationary
New Delhi-Allahabad Prayagraj Express at Panki railway station
near Kanpur at around 9 am. North-Central Railway, Allahabad
zone, general manager Harishchandra Joshi said eight bodies had
been identified. The dead included Shivanand Tripathi, the guard
of the Prayagraj Express. The injured have been admitted to
hospitals in Kanpur and Etawah and the condition of over a dozen
passengers is said to be critical. The mishaps hit train
services on the busy Delhi-Kanpur-Kolkata trunk route hard.
Passengers travelling in a general coach of Prayagraj
Express were trapped inside the mangled bogie for more than an
hour. Initially, help came from students of a private
engineering college, but villagers of Gangaganj and GRP, RPF,
police and railway personnel joined took over later.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Bahraich Congress
MP Kamal Kishore and his wife Poonam Kishore were aboard
Praygraj Express, but were unhurt.
An eyewitness said, “As I saw Licchavi Express crashing into
the stationary train, I rushed to the village and alerted the
locals.”
CRUNCH TIME: Onlookers
gather at the accident site after the Delhi-Bihar Licchavi
Express rammed into the stationary Delhi-Islampur Magadh Express
at Sarai Bhupat in Etawah in UP on Saturday
Runway lights fail, chaos
at Delhi airport
The dense fog on Saturday exposed the claims of Delhi
airport officials of runway preparedness as the runway visual
range system failed between 1.30 am and 10.20 am, apparently due
to a cable fault. No flight could take off for nine hours. The
standstill led to massive delays, diversions and cancellations,
affecting nearly 250 flights and leaving hundreds stranded. With
the main runway still not in service, major disruptions are
likely on Sunday too. In a suspected ripple effect, about 200
fliers were protesting at Pune airport on Saturday night after a
Delhi-Pune-Chennai SpiceJet flight was cancelled. It was
initially postponed to 1.10 am, but when the fliers arrived they
were told it had been cancelled.