35 dead, 200 injured as train derails in UP

 35 dead, 200 injured as train derails in UP

MALWAN (FATEHPUR): At least 35 people were killed and more than 200 injured when the Delhi-bound Howrah-Kalka Mail, barrelling down at 108kmph, derailed on Sunday afternoon after the driver applied emergency brakes.   The train had left Fatehpur and was speeding towards Kanpur, its next halt, when tragedy struck. Seconds after the train passed Malwan and lunch was served to passengers at 12.20pm, the engine and 13 coaches spun off the tracks and turned into a mangled heap amid ear-splitting noise. In the silence that followed, all that could be heard were the wails and screams of hundreds of passengers trapped inside. Hospital authorities confirmed the number of those dead and wounded, with unconfirmed reports saying two more had died of injuries. General manager of North Central Railway (NCR) H C Joshi said the exact reason for derailment was not clear; the commissioner of Railway Safety is probing the accident. According to survivors and eyewitnesses, the driver applied emergency brakes. The driver himself is critically injured and not in a position to say what made him apply the brakes. Railway officials confirm that the train was hurtling at the maximum speed of around 108-110 km per hour and did not rule out sabotage. Traffic was hit in the busy Delhi-Howrah corridor with 13 trains cancelled and 25 diverted. The NCR has confirmed 24 deaths so far. The 13 overturned coaches included three air-conditioned compartments.