Template:Infobox public transit accident
Kadalundi train disaster is one of the biggest accidents on the Indian railway network in 2001. On 22 June,[1] the Mangalore-Chennai Mail passenger train heading for Chennai was crossing Bridge 924 over the Kadalundi river, connecting Malappuram and Kozhikode districts when six carriages derailed and three fell into the river.[2][3]
The death toll for the accident rose steadily as bodies were retrieved from the wreckage over the course of a week, but a figure of 59 people was eventually reported as killed or missing,[2] including at least eight women and two children, whilst between 117 and 300 were injured and transported to nearby hospitals. These figures were still challenged by someTemplate:Who, who said the toll was higher and that a number of people were still missing.[4]
Overview
The monsoon rains had been normal that year.[5] Officials stated that heavy rainfall in the 24 hours before the accident could have contributed to the problems on the bridge. The bridge failed as the heavy train passed over them. The bridge was 140 years old and in a poor state of repair, and it shifted when the line broke, derailing six cars of the train. Three carriages fell into the swollen river.[2]
Rescue parties, totalling over 500 people from nearby towns, entered the river to rescue people from the wrecked carriages, and support was also received from fire brigades and the Indian Navy, who sent fifty professional divers to attempt to rescue those trapped in the underwater railway cars.Template:Cn Railway officials and family members also arrived rapidly with the aid of a special train.
The enquiry into what actually caused the damage to the bridge was highly controversialTemplate:Cn, because government investigators concluded that one of the bridge's pillars had sunk into the river, causing an uneven kink in the track, which snapped when the train hit it. Subsequent private investigations have seriously questioned this theory, pointing out that the bridge is damaged on top of the structure in a way which would not be possible if the pillar was unstable.Template:Cn These investigators claim that there was a fault with the train itself or it can be both together, for most of accidents happen due to more than one cause.
Similar accidents
- Template:Flagicon - Tangiwai disaster - lahar undermines bridge.
- Template:Flagicon - Veligonda train disaster
- Template:Flagicon - Perumon train disaster
References
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBBC - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 59 Die in India as Rail Bridge Collapses. Agence France-Presse(June 24, 2001). Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Was it the bridge, or the bogies?, SRIDHAR, V.. Frontline. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ↑ Was it the bridge, or the bogies?, SRIDHAR, V.. Frontline. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ↑ Weather in India MONSOON SEASON (June to September 2001)*. metnet.imd.gov.in(July 2002). Retrieved February 11, 2021.