Title - Tamil Nadu: 2 dead, 50 injured in rail derailment near Arakkonam

Two passengers were killed and fifty others injured when a train derailed at Sitheri near Arakkonam today morning, railway sources said.

Nine coaches of the Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur Express bound for Yesvantpur derailed around 5.50 am, they said.

Two passengers were killed in the mishap, while the injured were admitted to the hospitals by the rescue teams of the Southern Railway, they added.

In the wake of the incident, the rail traffic on Arakkonam junction has been affected, sources said.

Nine people were killed when Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) train rammed into the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger from behind as it was waiting for a signal at Sitheri Station in 2011.

A team of Railway officials from Chennai have reached the accident site and held preliminary inquiries on the cause of the mishap, railway sources said.

The Southern Railway cancelled seven trains including Bangalore-bound Brindavan Express, Duranto Express between Chennai-Coimbatore and Kovai Express.

The West Coast Express, Coimbatore Inter-City Express and Chennai-Tiruvananthapuram mail have also been cancelled, they said.