4 dead, 70 injured as Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express derails near Bihar's Buxar
Buxar (Bihar) (PTI): At least four passengers died and 70 others injured when six coaches of the Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express derailed near the Raghunathpur station in Bihar's Buxar district on Wednesday night, officials said.
The derailment occurred at 9:53 pm and at least two AC III Tier coaches had toppled over while four other coaches jumped the tracks, television visuals showed.
Buxar Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar told PTI four passengers had died in the accident. A Railway Police Force official said at least 70 passengers have been injured and shifted to local hospitals. Those with serious injuries were rushed to AIIMS, Patna.
“Will find the root cause of derailment,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on X, even as he expressed condolences for the loss of lives.
The minister said evacuation and rescue operations were completed and all coaches have been checked.
The 23-coach 12506 North East Express had departed the Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi at 7:40 am on Wednesday for its nearly 33-hour journey to Kamakhya, about six kilometres away from Guwahati.
"The train was coming at a normal speed but suddenly we heard a loud sound and a plume of smoke rose out of the train. We rushed to see what happened. We saw that the train had derailed and the AC coaches were the most damaged,” Hari Pathak, a local resident said.
Television visuals showed locals rushing to the rescue of the passengers and helping them come out of at least two toppled coaches. The visuals also showed a woman passenger in a state of shock being helped out of a coach by locals.
Several police officials were also seen at the spot helping rescue passengers from the train.
Jagdishpur SDPO Rajiv Chandra Singh said electric wires and poles, and rail tracks have been damaged due to the accident. He said that while some coaches lost balance and fell, none of them overturned due to which there are less casualties. "The technical team can give the details of the cause (of the accident)," he added. Chief Public Relations Officer of East Central Railway zone Birendra Kumar told PTI that the accident took place less than half an hour after the train left the Buxar station and was headed for Ara.
"The derailment took place near Raghunathpur station where the train does not have a scheduled stoppage," he said.
Relief measures were initiated immediately after the incident, with ambulances and doctors rushing to the site.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav issued a statement saying that the departments of disaster management and health have been asked to take immediate steps to ensure the quickest possible relief to as many people as possible.
"I have also spoken to the district magistrates of Buxar and Bhojpur (where Ara is headquartered) with instructions to reach the site at the earliest and speed up relief work," he said.
"In Sub-Divisional Hospital Jagdishpur and Shahpur Hospital, District Bhojpur, medical officers and other health workers are ready for rescue and relief operations. Ambulances from Rohtas, Buxar and Bhojpur districts have been sent to the spot," Yadav added.
A railways official said alternative arrangements have been made to ferry passengers of the derailed train to their respective destinations.
A scratch rake was dispatched from Patna to ferry passengers from the accident site, the official said. A scratch rake is a temporary rake with a similar configuration as the original train. Six buses too were sent to the accident site to evacuate the passengers to safety.
A railway official said one rake has been arranged from Ara to end the stranded passengers to their onward journeys.
"Medical teams have been sent to the spot," Deepak Kumar, Inspector, Railway Police Force, told reporters, adding that the district administration had alerted local hospitals in Buxar town.
"We have sent rescue and medical teams to the spot. The railways has also issued emergency helpline numbers for passengers. These are 9771449971 (Patna), 8905697493 (Danapur), 8306182542 (Ara), 8306182542 and 7759070004," he said.
War rooms have been established for monitoring and early restoration of the coaches and rescue operations were going on in full swing, a railway official said.
At least 18 trains operating on the route, including the Rajdhani Express between Delhi and Dibrugarh, have been diverted.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
