Agartala-Mumbai Express train derails in Assam's Dima Hasao district, no casualties reported

Eight coaches of the Agartala-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express were derailed on Thursday at Dibalong under Assam’s Lumding division in the Lumding-Bardarpur Hill section.

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials said that some people sustained minor injuries in the derailment in Dima Hasao district and one of them was admitted to a local hospital.

The officials said that Mumbai bound Agartala–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express left Agartala on Thursday morning and derailed its 8 coaches including the power car and the Engine at Dibalong in the Lumding-Bardarpur Hill section at about 4 p.m. in the afternoon.

However, no casualty or major injuries have been reported, the officials said.

Chief Public Relations Officer of the NFR Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that accident relief train and accident relief medical train has already left for the site from Lumding along with senior officials of the division to supervise the rescue and restoration works.

Running of trains over the Lumding-Badarpur single line section has been suspended.

The CPRO said that as a result of the derailment, several trains were cancelled.  The cancelled trains include, Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Special train, Rangiya-Silchar-  Rangiya Express, New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati Special train and Silchar-Guwahati-Silchar Express.

According to the railway officials, due to the derailment of coaches, train services between Manipur, Southern Assam, Tripura and Mizoram would be affected on Thursday and Friday.

A large number of express and local trains connecting Manipur, Southern Assam, Tripura and Mizoram passess through the single track of the Lumding-Bardarpur Hill section under mountainous Dima Hasao district.

People of southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur bear the brunt of floods during monsoon every year while the railway tracks, stations and other infrastructure get damaged due to the flood and landslides during the four-month-long monsoon, lasting from June to September.