Visakhapatnam, Oct 30: In an unfortunate incident, around 13 people lost their lives and several others were injured in the train accident on the Howrah-Chennai line in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh.
According to the officials of the East Coast Railway (ECR) said that on Sunday around 7 p.m., the Palasa passenger train hit the Rayagada passenger train from behind at Kantakapalli, about 40 km from the site of the incident, causing three coaches to derail.
Biswajit Sahu, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the ECR, said that at least nine people were killed in the incident.
Meanwhile, a senior railway official said that the injured were being shifted to hospitals in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
Following the incident, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed officials to pay an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh each to the injured from the state.
He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured from other states, according to an official release. The ECR has also set up helplines.