Chhattisgarh, Nov 4: Four people were killed and many others were injured when a passenger train plowed into a goods train near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, officials said, describing a scene of chaos and frantic rescue efforts.
The accident took place at around 4 p.m. between Gatora and Bilaspur railway stations, when a MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) passenger train en route from Gevra to Bilaspur rammed into a goods train standing ahead on the same track.
“Some of the passengers remain trapped beneath a coach of the passenger train,” a railway spokesperson said, confirming that emergency response teams had been deployed to the site. “Rescue operations are underway and medical assistance is being provided.”
Video clips from the site showed a badly damaged coach of the passenger train lifted onto a wagon of the goods train after the collision. Debris was scattered along the track as rescue teams used cutters and cranes to free passengers.
A senior police officer said some of the injured had been taken to hospitals in Bilaspur. “We are trying to rescue those still stuck inside the compartment. It’s a difficult operation because of the way the coach has mounted the goods train,” the officer said.
Railway authorities said all necessary measures had been taken to assist the injured and restore the line. “We have mobilized medical teams, ambulances, and technical support to the site,” another official mentioned.
An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Officials are also investigating how the passenger train came to collide with the goods train on a busy route just before reaching Bilaspur station.
