UP rail accident toll rises to 38, Sonia meets victims

Lucknow, March 21 (IANS) The toll in the train derailment in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district rose to 38 on Saturday. Congress president Sonia Gandhi met the injured during the day and urged Indian Railways to expedite the probe into the accident.

The ill-fated Janata Express had on Friday derailed in Bachharwan area of Rae Bareli district.

Gandhi -- who represents Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha -- met the injured at the trauma centre here in the state capital and enquired about the treatment being given to them.

She also asked them about the accident that injured more than 150 people.

Expressing sympathy to the families of the people who lost their lives, the Congress president said the Indian Railways should expedite the probe and ensure that such accidents do not recur.

Earlier, veteran Congress leader and former chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari also visited the hospital to enquire about the well-being of the injured passengers.

Doctors said most of the injured were recovering well.

"The condition of most of the injured is now better and we hope to discharge many of them in the next few days," a doctor at the trauma centre told IANS.

The horrific accident took place at Bachharwan railway station near Rae Bareli when the Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express, proceeding to Varanasi, jumped the tracks on Friday morning.

The train was to halt at Bachharwan, a small station, but the driver did not stop. When he realised the folly and applied the emergency brakes, the train went off the tracks.