Mamata to visit Mathura

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee today said she would visit Mathura to take stock of the situation at the site of the train accident that left 22 dead.

"I will be going to Mathura today to visit the accident spot and the injured in hospital," Banerjee told PTI here.

"I express my grief for the loss of lives and injuries caused in the accident," she said.

Banerjee has already ordered an inquiry into the mishap and announced an ex-gratia of Rs5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased.

A Railway ministry source said that the commissioner of Railway Safety would begin an enquiry from tomorrow into the accident.

The accident occurred between Mathura and Vrindavan when the Goa Express hit the Udaipur city-Hazrat Nizamuddin Mewar Express from behind at around 4.30am, apparently after its driver ignored the signal.

The five friends then carried the five people to a nearby road and hired an auto-rickshaw to rush them to a hospital which was two kilometres away.

Two of them, Ravi Kumar and Ravi Pandit, sustained minor injuries during rescue operations.

"It was difficult to take them out. I saw a child crying. I cannot forget the child's face. He had lost his mother in the accident," Kumar said.

Pandit said first they called ambulance. "Later, six armymen came and rescued some others," he said.

Two bogies at the rear of the Mewar Express, which was on its way from Udaipur to Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi, derailed due to the impact of the accident.

The unreserved compartment, which was a second-class-cum-luggage rake at the end of the Mewar Express, bore the maximum brunt of the accident. The pantry car of the Goa Express was also damaged.