PATNA: At least 100 persons were killed and over 100 injured when the 5 Up Punjab Mail bound for Ambala from Calcutta ran off the rails while crossing a bridge and part of it hurtled 50 feet down the embankment. The rail smash took place near Lahabun between Jasidish and Simultala stations on the main line of the East Indian Railway, about 206 miles from Calcutta … today [May 7]. Survivors reaching Patna city, … according to UPA, however estimated that as many as 300 were killed and some 500 wounded.

The Bihar Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr Abdul Qayyum Ansari, who was one of the passengers of the ill-fated train and escaped unhurt, said that he had counted about 100 dead bodies. “I cannot describe the horrors of the disaster,” he added. …[T]wo [bogeys] including a women’s compartment were smashed to smithereens and two others and the engine were badly damaged. The driver … had a miraculous escape [but] the fireman and the cleaner were killed. While the cause of the accident will be under official investigation … Mr Ansari said he had found fish plates to have been removed at two places.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2025