Bihar train accident : Bodies of two victims being taken by road to Assam

Bodies of a woman and her daughter, two of the four dead in the derailment of the North East Express near Raghunathpur in Bihar, are being brought in an ambulance to their home in Tinsukia district in Assam, a railway official said on Thursday.

The two are 37-year-old Usha Bhandari and her eight-year-old daughter Akriti, Northeast Frontier Railway public relations officer Dipak Deka told PTI.

The woman was travelling with her husband Deepak Bhandari and twin daughters from Delhi to her paternal home at Sadiya in Assam's Tinsukia district. While she and one of the daughters died in the accident, her husband and other daughter escaped unhurt.

The Railways arranged everything and an official is also accompanying them in the ambulance. We are keeping track of the vehicle's movement," Deka said.

East Central Railway travelling ticket examiner Navin Kumar, who is accompanying the bereaved family, said that they started their over 1450 km-long journey at 1.45 pm.

"Deepak Bhandari and his surviving daughter are coming in an SUV along with us. They have not suffered any injury, but are emotionally shattered," Kumar told PTI over phone from the ambulance.

"Along with the two drivers, five people are going to Assam now with the bodies. The railways and police are managing everything for a hassle free ride," he added.

The woman's neighbours at Chapakhowa of Sadiya sub-division in Tinsukia said her aged parents are totally devastated after after hearing the news of the deaths.

"The couple work in a hotel in Delhi and the family was coming home for vacation," one of the neighbours said.

Twentythree coaches of the train, on way to Kamakhya in Assam from Delhi's Anand Vihar station, derailed near Raghunathpur in Bihar's Buxa district on Wednesday night around 9.53 pm leading to the death of four of its passengers.

Narendra Kumar from Rajasthan and Abu Zayed (27) from Purnia in Bihar were the other two who died in the accident.

The chief minister's office is monitoring the situation and is in touch with the authorities concerned, the CMO posted on 'X'.

"One passenger from Assam, travelling on train 12506 which derailed last evening is receiving treatment at AIIMS Patna," it said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his "deepest condolences" at the death of Usha Bhandari and her daughter in the accident.