Penukonda (Anantapur): Five persons were killed, including a Congress legislator from Karnataka, when an out-of-control granite-laden truck rammed into the Bengaluru-Nanded Express after breaking the level crossing gate near Penukonda in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh early on Monday.
The truck, transporting a granite block weighing about 30 tonnes from a quarry of Madakasira, was travelling towards Tadipatri. It broke through the closed boom gate and hit the air-conditioned first class coach at about 2.20 am.
The red light at the crossing was on and the warning hooter was also blaring. The area was also well lit and there were several speed breakers.
The granite block ripped open the H1 coach, killing five of the occupants almost immediately. Among the victims was Arikera Venkatesh Naik, 82, Congress MLA from Devadurg in Raichur district, a four-time MP.
The other victims are — B. Raju, 53, a general manager of Indofil, Pulla Rao, 47, a farmer from Raichur, Sayyad Ahmed, 42, a Railways AC mechanic from Mysuru and A. Nagaraju, 40, a truck cleaner from Yellanur. Seven persons were hurt. Three coaches, S-1, S-2 and S-3 were derailed.
The accident occurred at a manned level crossing near Madakasira village between Rangepalli and Penugonda stations.
When the train was about to reach Penukonda railway station, the gateman B. Thimmaiah had closed the level crossing gate at around 2.10 am.
Truck driver D. Bhasha allegedly lost control of the vehicle. He fled the spot after the incident. Later he surrendered and alleged that the cleaner Nagaraju had been driving the vehicle. He said two vehicles had been carrying granite blocks, and he had been in the other vehicle.
Engine driver M. Aruna Chalam and co-driver Rahul heard the crash and stopped the train. “The death toll would have been more because the train was passing over a culvert 10 metres from the gate,” a source said.
Anantapur DIG A. Satyanarayana said that it appeared that the actual cause could be ascertained only after an inquiry.
Many trains on the Guntakal-Bengaluru section had to be diverted. AP ministers Paritala Sunita and Palle Raghunath Reddy rushed to the spot.
They said 52 special buses ferried from Penukonda and other towns were pressed into service to ferry stranded passengers. Collector K. Sasidhar said 3,000 passengers on the train were transported by the RTC.
Bengaluru DRM Sanjeev Agarwal said about 200 skilled persons and technicians were engaged in rectifying the track and trains were allowed on the section in the afternoon.
AP civil supplies minister Paritala Sunitha and IT minister Palle Raghunath Reddy rushed to the spot and oversaw rescue operations. They said that about 52 special buses from various depots were put into service from Penukonda and other towns to ferry the stranded passengers.
Collector K. Sasidhar said about 3,000 passengers on the train were transported by the RTC.
The injured were shifted to the Railway Hospital at Bengaluru. The bodies of the deceased were handed over to the relatives after post mortem at the APVP hospital in Penukonda.
Minister Raghunath Reddy said the cause of the accident ? brake failure or drunk or sleeping driver ? would be ascertained in the investigation. He also sought an ex-gratia of more than Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased.
Recalling that train accidents had taken place in Anantapur district in the past as well, Mr Reddy said that the state government would write to the Centre for taking appropriate measures to prevent such tragedies in future, especially at railway crossings.
The commissioner of railway safety of the southern circle has been asked to conduct the probe and submit the report at the earliest, sources said.
