New Delhi: In a tragic incident, two freight trains collided in the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand, resulting in the deaths of two people and leaving four others injured. According to police reports, the collision took place around 3 a.m. near Bhognadih in the Barhet police station area, late Monday night. The two trains involved in the accident were operated by the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), which also owns the railway tracks.
These tracks are primarily used to transport coal to NTPC’s power plants. Following the collision, the engines of both trains caught fire, and emergency rescue operations were immediately launched. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Kishore Tirkey confirmed the deaths stating, “Both train drivers died in the head-on collision of the freight trains.”
A spokesperson for Eastern Railways, Kaushik Mitra, clarified that both the trains and the railway track belonged to NTPC, and not to Indian Railways. The incident occurred on a track connecting the NTPC’s Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district to the Farakka Plant in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. Both trains were carrying coal, and the collision caused extensive damage. The fire brigade team from Sahibganj, which arrived at the scene, worked to extinguish the flames.
Railway officials and employees were also on-site to assist in the rescue operations. According to initial reports, seven people were aboard the engines of the two trains, and two of them tragically lost their lives. Four others were seriously injured, including four CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) personnel who were on the train.
The injured were rushed to the Sadar Hospital in Barhet, where their condition remains critical. The collision occurred when a freight train, transporting coal from Lamtia to Farakka, crashed into a stationary train on the track. The impact of the crash was so severe that both trains’ engines were engulfed in flames.