On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, the North-East Express train, bound for Assam state from New Delhi, derailed near the Raghunathpur railroad station located in the Buxar district of Bihar state, India.

The incident led to the deaths of four individuals, while 70 more sustained injuries. Manish Kumar, a local police officer, stated that medical personnel and ambulances were quickly dispatched to the site. Precautionary measures were taken as nearby hospitals were informed in advance to expect injured passengers.

Railroad official D.K. Pathak, a passenger on the train during the incident, shared that a large number of injuries were predominantly from a single derailed coach. Out of the total, six coaches are confirmed to have derailed. The cause of the accident is still under scrutiny, with potential issues with the tracks being one of the speculated reasons.

To assist the affected passengers, a relief train was set up at Danapur, facilitating the continuation of their journey. Indian Railways has made a public commitment to compensate the victims and their families.

In the backdrop of this incident is another tragic accident from June 2022, where two passenger trains collided, causing more than 230 deaths and injuring 900. An investigation into that accident found a signal system malfunction to be the primary cause. Such events have brought the safety and quality of India’s railway infrastructure into focus.