Nagaon: At least seven wild elephants were killed and one injured after the DN-Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express hit a herd in the Kampur area of Nagaon district early Saturday morning. The impact caused the engine and five coaches to derail, officials said.
The accident took place at around 2:15 am in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding Division of Northeast Frontier Railway. The site is about 126 km from Guwahati.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Nagaon forest division said that three adult elephants and four calves died in the incident, while one calf was injured. Forest officials are conducting postmortems on all the carcasses.
In an official statement, Northeast Frontier Railway said the loco pilot applied emergency brakes after spotting the elephants on the track. However, the elephants collided with the train, leading to the derailment.
The railway clarified that no passengers were injured or killed in the incident.
Senior railway officials, including the General Manager of N.F. Railway and the Divisional Railway Manager of Lumding, rushed to the spot. Accident relief trains and railway staff also reached the site quickly.
Railway authorities temporarily shifted passengers from the affected coaches to vacant berths in other coaches. After detaching the damaged coaches, the train left for Guwahati at 6:15 am. Officials will add additional coaches at Guwahati before the train resumes its journey to New Delhi.
The railway said the accident spot is not a designated elephant corridor. Train movement on the affected route has been diverted through the UP line, and restoration work is underway.
N.F. Railway activated helpline numbers at Guwahati Railway Station:
- 0361-2731621
- 0361-2731622
- 0361-2731623
The incident has once again raised concerns about human-wildlife conflict and train movement in forest areas of Assam.
