Utkal Express tragedy: Railways suspends 4 officials, transfers 1; death toll 22

Lucknow: The Indian Railways on Sunday suspended four officials and transferred one for dereliction of duty, even as the Uttar Pradesh Police have revised the toll in Utkal Express derailment to 22 and over 200 injured.

Besides actions against these five officials, a general manager and a Railway Board member have also been “sent on leave”, the ANI news agency reported.

Updating the toll on Saturday's devastating accident, ADG Law and Order Anand Kumar said that 22 people have died and 202 others were injured.

“Prima facie and on the basis of a preliminary inquiry done by the ATS, there is no evidence of any terror outfit involved in the accident,” he said.

Fourteen coaches of the Puri-Haridwar-Kalinga Utkal Express had derailed on Saturday in Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district.

Khatauli is around 40 km from the Muzaffarnagar district headquarters.

One of the coaches crashed into a house adjacent to the track, burying several people under the debris.

The injured were shifted to government and private hospitals.

Dozens of personnels, including members of the NDRF and the police had joined the rescue and relief operations.

Over 30 ambulances were also pressed into service to help the injured.

Heavyweight cranes and gas cutters were also being used to lift or cut the mangled remains of the coaches and extricate passengers stuck inside.

Large number of local people and villagers were also seen helping out those engaged in the rescue work.

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3.5 lakh for the next of kin of those killed, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for people with minor injuries.

He has also ordered an inquiry into the derailment.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the loss of lives and injuries.

The ill-fated train was on its way to Haridwar from Puri in Odisha when the derailment happened.