Seven victims of Andhra train accident identified

Hyderabad, Nov 3 (IANS) Seven of the eight Bokaro Express passengers who were run over by another train near Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh Saturday night have been identified, police said.

All the bodies were shifted to railway hospital at Visakhapatnam. "One body is yet to be identified," a police official said Sunday.

One of the two injured is in critical condition.

The dead have been identified as Alexis, 27, Shweta Singh, 33, Samhita, 10, Shaurya, 2, Tara Devi, 34, Kartik Sahu, 70, and Lokender Kumar, 28.

Police said Lokender Kumar was a soldier in the army. The dead include three members of a family.

The ghastly accident took place at Gotlam near Vizianagaram town, about 700 km from here, when some passengers of Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express pulled the chain and jumped down from the train following rumours that fire broke out on the train. They failed to notice another train coming in opposite direction on the adjacent track.

Railway officials said Alappuzha-Dhanbad train, also known as Bokaro Express was on its way from Alappuzha in Kerala to Dhanbad in Jharkhand via Bokaro Steel City.

They quoted eye-witnesses as saying that someone in S1 passenger car pulled the chain as rumours spread that an adjacent coach had caught fire. Passengers jumped down in panic but came under Rayagada-Vijayawada passenger train coming in the opposite direction on another track.

Since it was pitch dark, they failed to notice the speeding train.

The dead include three members of a family from Aurangabad in Bihar. Manoj Kumar lost his wife Shweta Singh and two children two-year-old Shaurya and 10-year-old Samhita Kumari. The family was returning to Aurangabad from Bangalore.

Railways have ordered a probe. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge termed the incident as "most tragic" and instructed the officials to ensure the injured get speedy treatment.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was away in Bangalore, expressed shock. He spoke to Vizianagaram district collector and superintendent of police over phone and directed them to provide all help to the families of the victims.

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Attack on African student: 10 years for seven youths

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (IANS) A sessions court in Punjab's Jalandhar city Thursday sentenced seven youths to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for a murderous assault on a young African student in April last year.

The seven, belonging to middle class families and including the son of a former Punjab police officer, attacked Yannick Nihangaza, a student from the East African nation of Burundi, and left him critically injured.

Yannick remained in coma for a few months before regaining consciousness.

He, however, continues to be bed-ridden in a private hospital in Patiala, 80 km from here. Doctors say Yannick suffered irreversible brain damage.

The attack took place when Yannick was going to a birthday party in Jalandhar, 160 km from here, April 21. He was attacked following an argument over a small matter outside a liquor shop.

The Punjab government had announced it would bear the expenses of Yannick's treatment and also the cost to airlift him to Burundi.

Yannick was pursuing a B.Sc. degree in computers at the Lovely Professional University near Jalandhar.

His father, who arrived in India April 29, after being told about his son's condition, shifted him to Patiala for treatment.

Yannick's plight came to light after his father wrote an emotional letter to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, seeking his help for medical treatment and requesting that Yannick gets justice.

While sanctioning a Rs.500,000 grant to Yannick's father, Badal promised to extend all possible assistance for his treatment.

The Jalandhar police arrested the youths involved in the assault after the media reported the incident.

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