RailEnquiry

Three persons were killed when a passenger train hit a truck at an unmanned level crossing near Kaipadar, about 25 km. from here on Tuesday morning.The accident took place at around 5.30 a.m.. The truck carrying two labourers was going to collect stone chips from Tapanga area. The moment the truck was in the middle of track, Nagercoil-Shalimar (Kolkata) Gurudev Express coming from the direction of Bhubaneswar hit the vehicle.The impact of the collision was severe that truck was thrown from the track and it fell on adjacent track. In the mean time, a goods train coming from opposite direction hit the truck again.As a result, driver and two labourers died on the spot. The victims belonged to Sauntia panchayat from Puri’s Delang area. After the accident, residents from nearby villages staged demonstration demanding level crossing at the place as well as proper compensation for the victims’ families.The train movement was severely affected. The south bound trains and train coming from southern India were stranded on the road for several hours. A special train was sent to accident place for removing wreckage from the track. Normal train movement resumed in the afternoon.“Drivers while crossing unmanned level crossing should look both ways to check if trains are coming from any direction. A little precaution would save precious lives. There is no provision of any compensation for accident victims,” said S. K. Mohanty, Divisional Railway Manager of Khurda Road Division.