15 killed and several injured as passenger train derails

15 persons were killed and around 150 others injured when the engine and two coaches of the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express

derailed near Bachrawan Railway Station 50 km from Lucknow in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday at 9:30AM  ( 4:00am GMT).  

Villagers, police and railway guards rushed to the accident scene trying to rescue passengers trapped in the coaches.

India’s railway network operates 12,000 passenger trains and carries some 23 million passengers every day.

According to First Incident reports, the locomotive driver apparently overshot the signal and as a result, the engine and two adjoining coaches derailed, Railway Spokesperson Anil Saxena said in Delhi.
Railways have ordered an inquiry and announced a compensation of £2000  Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of those killed in the accident, and seriously injure will get £500 Rs 50,000, and people with

minor injuries will get compensated £200 Rs 20,000.  People from nearby villages rushed to the spot  including rescue teams from Lucknow and Rae Bareli, to help in rescue and relief operations.

The villagers helped in extricating passengers trapped in the mangled coaches of the train.
The spot of the accident presented a devastating sight with one of the bogies reduced to a mangle of steel. Ambulances carrying teams of doctors were rushed to the
accident site to help passengers screaming in pain, eye witnesses said, adding gas cutters were being arranged to cut open the crushed compartments to pull out passengers.
Train movement on the Lucknow-Varanasi section of the Northern Railway has been disrupted due to the accident.