Derailments could not have been averted: Railways

Harda: Water from a rain-swollen river gushed 36 feet high breaching tracks which was just 13 feet above the river bed triggering the "freak" derailment of two express trains in Madhya Pradesh, which Railways claimed could not have been averted.

As rescue operations in the twin derailment that killed 28 people were wound up, a top Railway official claimed that it could not have been averted despite the monsoon preparedness and described the mishap as one of its kind and a "freak" incident.

There was no defect in the rail bridge nor there was any lack of monsoon preparedness and there was no flood alert for this section, Railway Board Member (Engineering) V K Gupta told reporters in Delhi.

Gupta, who had rushed to the accident site at Harda yesterday, said the flash floods that caused the derailment of coaches and one engine of two trains at around the same time was unprecedented and never seen before since the construction of the line in 1870. "The line was constructed at 13 ft above the river bed and the water gushed at 36-ft high and 200 m width which is unprecedented and can be called freak," Gupta claimed.

With the recovery of three more bodies late last night, the death toll has risen to 28, a top West Central Railway (WCR) official said in Harda.

The two trains -- Varanasi-bound Kamayani Express from Mumbai and the Mumbai-bound Janta Express originating from Patna -- jumped off tracks while crossing a railway bridge struck by flash floods at about 1130 pm on Tuesday night.