8 coaches of Agartala-Lokmanya Terminus Express derail in Assam's Dima Hasao
Guwahati, Oct 17: Eight coaches of the Agartala-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express derailed at Dibalong station in Assam's Dima Hasao district on Thursday afternoon, Northeast Frontier Railway officials said.
There were no reports of any fatality or major injuries, they said.
“No major casualty or injury and all passengers are safe. We are coordinating with railway authorities and a relief train will shortly reach the site,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on X.
The derailed coaches include the power car and the engine of the train.
An accident relief medical train has already left for the site from Lumding along with senior officers to supervise the rescue and restoration work, the officials said.
The cause of the derailment, which occurred at 3.55 pm, was ''being investigated and it will take some time to be ascertained'', an NF Railway spokesperson told PTI.
The passengers of the train will be shifted to a separate rake and transported to the next station, he said.
Restoration work was likely to take time due to the hilly and difficult terrain of the section, the spokesperson said.
Running of trains on the Lumding-Badarpur single-line hill section has been suspended, the officials said.
The railway authorities have also opened helpline numbers at Lumding.
Following the derailment, the NF Railway cancelled the Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri special train and Rangiya-Silchar-Rangiya Express on Thursday along with both the corresponding trains on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Agartala-Firozpur Cantt Express has been short-terminated at Badarpur, the Sabroom-Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express at Maibong and the Dullabcherra-Guwahati Express at New Haflong.
The Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Special and Agartala-Guwahati Summer Special will also remain cancelled on Thursday, while the New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati Special, Guwahati-Agartala Summer Special, Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Special and Silchar-Guwahati Silchar Express have been cancelled on Friday, an NF Railway bulletin said.
Among other changes, the Silchar-Thiruvananthapuram Express, scheduled to leave on Thursday, has been rescheduled to leave at 6 am hours on Friday, while the SMVT Bengaluru-Agartala Humsafar Express, which began its journey on October 15, will be regulated suitably, it said.
8 coaches of Train 12520 Agartala –LTT Express derailed at Dibalong station near Lumding at 15:55 Hrs today. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞.
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 17, 2024
We are coordinating railway authorities…
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Nitish Kumar's son Nishant among 32 to take oath as Bihar ministers
Patna (PTI): In a major expansion of the Cabinet of Bihar's first BJP-led government, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar and 31 others took oath as ministers on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Altogether 32 leaders, drawn from all constituents of the five-party NDA in the state, were administered the oath of office by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain at a grand ceremony that was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister J P Nadda and BJP president Nitin Nabin.
Prominent inductees included Nishant Kumar, the son of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister last month to enter the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, has 15 ministers, who took oath on Thursday.
Most of the inductees were those who were part of the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November last year after the NDA stormed back to power in the assembly polls.
The JD(U) is represented by a total of 15 ministers, 13 of whom took the oath at the Gandhi Maidan on Thursday. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had taken oath in April along with Samrat Choudhary and were designated as deputy chief ministers.
Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar Paswan, both from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, are back as ministers, and so are Santosh Kumar Suman and Deepak Prakash, sons of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, respectively.
