Fourteen people were injured when a passenger train derailed yesterday in Uttar Pradesh, railways officials said.
Eight coaches of the Rajyarani Express train derailed near Rampur station at 8.15am railways spokesman Neeraj Sharma said.
A probe has been ordered into the incident, the sixth railway accident in the country this year.
Medical teams and senior officials were at the site, Sharma said.
An alternative track was being used to divert trains and there were some delays, he added.
The train was travelling from Meerut to the state capital Lucknow.
The derailment is the latest in a string of similar accidents in the region and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said he was personally monitoring the situation.
“Inquiry ordered to look into the cause, strict action will be taken against any lapse,” Prabhu said on Twitter.
Rampur Superintendent of Police Keshav Kumar Chaudhary said three of the injured were hospitalised and the rest were discharged after giving first aid.
“All the injured are out of danger,” he said.
Chaudhary said one of the coaches had “completely overturned”.
A preliminary probe revealed that at least 3ft of track was found broken and parts of it were embedded in the ground, he said.
A team of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-terrorism Squad visited the site.
However, the police official ruled out sabotage.
“There seems to be no sabotage. The track may have broken because of some pressure,” Chaudhary said, adding the railways has taken over the probe and they should be in a “better position to explain”.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced financial assistance of Rs50,000 each to those seriously injured and Rs25,000 to those with minor injuries.
This is the sixth accident this year to hit the Indian Railways, the world’s fourth largest rail network that ferries over 20mn people across the country every day.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 25,000 people have been killed in rail accidents each year since 2010.
The government in February 2015 announced ambitious plans to pump in Rs one lakh crore to revamp safety infrastructure of the ageing network till 2020.
On January 22, more than 40 passengers died and over 50 were injured when the Hirakhand Express derailed near Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh.
A month later three coaches and the engine of Kalindi Express derailed after colliding with a goods train at the Tundla Junction in Uttar Pradesh.
The two trains were running on the same track.
Nobody was injured.
On March 17, four women were killed after a train rammed into an ambulance at an unmanned level crossing in Karnataka.
Nearly two weeks later, some 52 people were injured after eight coaches of the Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakaushal Express derailed near Kulpahar railway station in Uttar Pradesh.
A goods train engine got derailed between Madpur and Jakpur in Howrah-Kharagpur section in West Bengal.
There were no injuries.
Some 80 accidents were reported last year and 70 in 2015.