In a horrifying train accident in Ananthapur, six people were killed, among which Venkatesh Naik, the Congress lawmaker is one of them.

The accident took place at around 2.20 am at a level crossing in Anantapur district, when a lorry collided with Bangalore-Nanded Express train in Andhra Pradesh.

As per the reports, the railway officials said that, the brakes of the truck, which was carting granite, failed. So it could not stop at the barricade and broke it and thus hit the train.

But there are even different opinions on this issue. A few of the people opine that, the truck driver was drunk and was driving at a very high speed. So he is not able to notice the barricades and rushed on to the track, breaking the barricades.

After the hit, a total of four coaches were derailed and the train was stopped as of now.   

"One lorry filled with stones broke closed gate and dashed into the train. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu is monitoring the development," said Railways Spokesperson Anil Saxena.

The railway officials and also the local police already launched the rescue operations in the accident area.

Around 25 people are said to have been injured in the accident, which occurred at around 2.25am at Madakasira, more than 450 km from capital Hyderabad.

This is the second accident in August itself. Earlier, around 28 people were killed after two trains derailed in Madhya Pradesh, due to the heavy rain, which weakened the tracks near Harda, which is 160km from Bhopal.  

Below are the helpline numbers to perform rescue operations better.

Bangalore Railway station: 08022354108, 0731666751, 08022156553

Accident site: 09701374062, 09493548005, 09448090399, 00873763945549

By Phanindra