Two school students among three killed as train hits pool car at open level crossing in Bengal

Kolkata, Jul 17 (PTI) A train rammed a pool car on an open level crossing in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Friday, killing two school students and a bicycle rider while injuring five people, officials said. Police arrested the gateman for alleged dereliction of duty as angry villagers held a protest at the accident site in Gobindapur. Also, a permanent way inspector of the railways has been suspended. The pool car driver is among the five injured in the accident that occurred around 7 am near the Karna Subarna railway station, said the chief public relations officer of Eastern Railways, Shibram Majhi. He said the Railways has announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of each deceased and Rs 2.5 lakh for the injured. "The pool car carrying students to school was crossing the train tracks at the level crossing near the Karna Subarna Station when a train hit the vehicle," Majhi said. He said that a bicycle rider, who was crossing the tracks, was also hit by the Nimtita-Katwa Passenger train and died. The injured were initially taken to a local hospital and later shifted to the Baharampur Medical College and Hospital for treatment. Majhi told PTI that a 10-member team of railway officials visited the accident site to investigate the cause of the incident. He also said that a permanent way inspector has been placed under suspension for dereliction of duty. Train services in the Azimganj-Katwa section of the Eastern Railway's Howrah division were affected briefly following the accident. However, normal train service was restored after removing the wreckage of the pool car. While Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the incident, former Baharampur MP and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury visited the spot and spoke to the villagers. Chowdhury later told reporters that the gateman had left the level crossing gate open, which caused the accident. "When we are running hydrogen trains, we should ensure that basic infrastructure and checks are in place to prevent accidents," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off India's first hydrogen-powered train connecting Jind and Sonipat in Haryana. PTI AMR NSD