Seven elephants killed as Rajdhani derails in Assam collision

Seven elephants were killed in the early hours of December 20 after a Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express ploughed into a herd in Assam’s Hojai district, triggering the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches, railway officials said. No passengers were injured.

The accident occurred at 2:17 am in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding Division of Northeast Frontier Railway, roughly 126 km from Guwahati, when the Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck the animals on the track.

Hojai Superintendent of Police V V Rakesh Reddy confirmed the deaths. “Rescue teams are present at the site. The affected Rajdhani coaches have been attached to another engine and the train has since departed,” he said.

In a detailed statement, Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said senior railway officials, including the General Manager of NF Railway and the Divisional Railway Manager of Lumding, rushed to the spot.

Passengers from the derailed coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths in other coaches. After detaching the affected coaches, the train left the site for Guwahati at 6:11 am, where additional coaches will be added before it resumes its onward journey.

The Railways maintained that the stretch where the collision occurred is “not a designated elephant corridor.” According to officials, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes on spotting the herd, but the elephants ran into the train.

Restoration work is underway, with trains scheduled to pass through the section being diverted via the UP line, officials said, as rail traffic continues to be regulated following the derailment.