The Jajapur derailment was a passenger train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

 derailment

Derailment

A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....

 that occurred at 19:45 local time (14:15 UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

) in the dark in the eastern state of Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, on 13 February 2009. Nine people were killed and 150 people were injured in the incident. Twelve carriages belonging to the Howrah–Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 Coromandel Express

Coromandel Express

, The Coromandal Express is one of the flagship carriers of the Indian Railways. It is a superfast train which runs down the east coast of India between Howrah station in Howrah and Chennai Central in Chennai daily. It is one of the earliest superfast express' in the history of IR...

 are believed to have derailed following the train's departure from Jajapur Road station near Jajapur

Jajapur

Jajapur is a city and a municipality in Jajpur district in the Indian state of Orissa. It is popularly known as Biraja Khetra, which translates as "the place sacred to Goddess Biraja", and is located on the banks of the Baitarani River. It was the capital of Orissa during the Kesari dynasty,...

. It is expected that the number of casualties will rise. The cause of the accident is currently unknown.

Derailment

Following initial reports that the death toll was 10, two relief trains were dispatched to the scene. Eyewitnesses feared passengers were trapped in two of the derailed carriages. Medical and rescue teams from the Bhubaneswar headquarters of East Coast Railway converged on the scene of the accident and erected emergency lighting to speed up the rescue effort, which had been hampered by the dark. Local people assisted the emergency services in their rescue effort, with one local describing the accident as "horrible and serious". Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu reached the spot on Saturday morning to take stock of the situation. A high-level inquiry had been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, he said.

14 of the 27 coaches of the express train derailed approximately 110 kilometres (68.4 mi) from the state's capital, Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

. Some coaches of the train are lying over each other and many people are trapped under the mangled train cars. The injured are being sent to local hospitals.

Reaction

The Minister said the Railways would pay Rs.500,000 each to the next of kin of those killed in the accident and a job each to the family of those killed.

Apart from providing free medical treatment, the Railways will pay Rs.50,000 each to those seriously injured and Rs.10,000 to other injured passengers.