Train services were disrupted on the Ranchi Rourkela section of Railway as two goods trains collided near Kurkura railway station about 250 km from Dhanbad railway station last night.
The accident took place at around 9.40 pm last night due to brake failure of a vacant goods train heading on the Rourkela Ranchi line from Bano railway station which collided with another loaded goods train heading toward Rourkela from Ranchi.
Several wagons of both the trains overturned during the accident and an assistant loco pilot also sustained injuries. He was admitted in hospital.
The relief team, carrying the rescue workers, reached the site from Ranchi. The railway police launched the rescue and repair operation during the night itself but the normal traffic on the track could not be restored till the morning due to which several trains had to be cancelled or diverted on Ranchi Rourkela section.
The cancelled trains included Jharsuguda Hatia MEMU Express (18176) and Rourkela Hatia Passenger Special (08150). Besides, several other trains including, Alappuzha- Dhanbad Express (13352) and Dhanbad Alappuzha Express (13351) and Tapaswini Express (18452) have been diverted.
Sources in Railways said that after the break failure, the empty goods train crossed the Mahuabuang railway station breaking the signal and entered platform number 3 of Kurkura Railway station where a loaded goods train was coming from opposite direction and both the trains collided with each other. The crew members of both the trains managed to save their lives by jumping off from the running train. However, one of the assistant loco pilots, Ranjeet Kumar was injured in the accident.