Nepal on Friday confirmed the death of its seven citizens in the tragic train accident that occured in Maharashtra's Jalgaon on Wednesday. The accident claimed at least 13 lives while leaving 15 others injured after some passengers of the Pushpak Express, which was bound for Mumbai from Lucknow, jumped off the train following an alarm chain-pulling incident. The tragedy unfolded as passengers onboard the 12533 Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express, fearing a blaze, hastily jumped onto the adjacent tracks and were run over by the oncoming Karnataka Express, which was heading from Bengaluru to Delhi.
On Thursday, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba expressed sorrow over the tragic train accident in Jalgaon. Speaking to news agency PTI, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Krishna Prasad Dhakal said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is coordinating with the concerned agencies in India, including the Nepalese embassy and the local authorities, for facilitating treatment of those injured in the accident and sending the bodies of deceased to Nepal.”
Meanwhile, a team comproising five senior railway officials, has initiated an inquiry into the train accident, the Railway Board said in a statement.
"The initial version reported by many suggested that passengers didn't have time to move to a safe place and they had no option but to jump on the tracks. But, it is incorrect. We are investigating the cause of chain pulling,” a railway official said.
A state government official said that earlier the figure had arrived at 13 as a woman’s body and a head were found at the scene of the accident, but a man identified the body parts as that of his mother.
Swapnil Dhanraj Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Central Railway, earlier told PTI that Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police had initiated a preliminary inquiry after the tragedy to find out what caused passengers to pull the alarm chain and alight the Pushpak Express.
(With PTI inputs)