A speeding train derailed in western India early Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80. Fifteen cars of the New Delhi-bound Mandore Express flew off the tracks and rolled onto their sides when the driver suddenly applied the brakes because of poor visibility in the region, said Vipin Kumar Pande, superintendent of police. A broken rail track punctured one car and killed some of the passengers. Rescuers used machinery to cut open some of the cars to free trapped passengers, he said. Nineteen people were hospitalized with injuries, three of them in serious condition, Pande said, and more than 60 people with minor injuries had left for their homes after treatment. The accident occurred near Banshkov, a village nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state. Accident or sabotage? Northwestern Railways and police are trying to ascertain whether the derailment of Mandor Express was a case of sabotage as the mishap occurred hours after a phone call that a bomb was planted in the Jammu Tawi-bound Puja Express turned out to be a hoax. The call was made at the Dausa railway station ten minutes before the departure of Puja Express and the information was passed on to Jaipur Railway Control Room that a bomb was planted in the train, an official of the Government Railway Police (GRP) said Saturday. Since the Mandor Express derailed between Jhir and Jatawat stations in Dausa section, railway authorities, GRP and the anti-terror squad of the state police are exploring the sabotage angle. After extensive search and frisking passengers of Puja Express, no suspicious or abandoned object was found by the bomb detection squad at the railway station Jaipur and also at Dausa station. Director General of Police (ATS) Kapil Garg said the hoax call was made for the Puja Express by a 13- year-boy in Dausa. “We will also examine whether there is any link between the hoax call and the train mishap,” Garg said. 24 trains diverted North West Railways on Saturday cancelled two trains and diverted 24 others as the Jaipur-Dausa section was disrupted following derailment of the Mandor Express train near Jaipur. Hisar-Jaipur fast passenger and Jaipur-Hisar fast passenger trains were cancelled, a Northwest Railway Spokesperson said. Twenty-four trains were being diverted through Phulera-Reengus-Rewari and Jaipur-Sawaimadhopur rail sections, he said.
