At least seven wild elephants were killed and one calf injured after the DN Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express collided with a herd in Assam’s Hojai district early on Saturday, derailing the locomotive and five coaches, officials said.
The accident occurred around 2.17 am in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), about 126 km from Guwahati. While the impact caused significant disruption to rail services, no passengers were injured, railway authorities confirmed.
Confirming the casualties among the animals, Divisional Forest Officer (Nagaon division) Suhas Kadam said, “Seven elephants, three adults and four calves, were killed in the accident, while one calf sustained injuries. Postmortems are being conducted on all the carcasses.”
The NFR said accident relief trains and senior officials from the divisional headquarters were rushed to the site soon after the derailment. “There are no casualties or injuries to any passenger,” the railway said in a statement, adding that passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths in other coaches.
According to railway officials, after detaching the derailed coaches, the train proceeded to Guwahati. “Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached to accommodate all passengers, and the train will then resume its onward journey,” the statement said.
Officials clarified that the collision took place at a stretch not notified as an elephant corridor. The loco pilot had applied emergency brakes after spotting the herd on the tracks, but the animals ran into the train, leading to the impact. “Trains scheduled to pass through the section are being diverted through an alternative route. Restoration work is under way,” the NFR said.
Helpline numbers were activated at Guwahati railway station to assist passengers: 0361-2731621, 0361-2731622 and 0361-2731623.
The derailment and the presence of elephant carcasses on the tracks disrupted rail traffic to Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast, sources said. Several services were cancelled, regulated or short-terminated as restoration work continued on the single operational line.
NFR Chief Public Relations Officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma expressed grief over the incident and praised the loco pilot’s response. “The Rajdhani Express, en route from Sairang to Anand Vihar, was approaching when the loco pilot spotted a herd of about 100 elephants crossing the tracks. He applied emergency brakes, but some elephants were struck by the train,” he said.
Briefing the media on the aftermath, Sharma said, “Of the nearly 600 passengers on board, around 200 from the affected coaches were safely shifted to other coaches, and the train has resumed its journey.” He added that restoration work would be completed promptly and derailed coaches would be cleared to normalise services.
Sharma said nine trains were cancelled, 13 were regulated and two were short-terminated following the accident. “In view of the derailment of train number 20507 in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section, services on the down line between Lumding and Guwahati have been affected,” he said.
Among the cancelled services were the Rangiya–New Tinsukia Express, Guwahati–Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express, Guwahati–Badarpur Vistadome Express and New Tinsukia–Rangiya Express. The NFR said Train No. 15769 (Alipurduar–Mariani) was short-terminated at Digaru, while 15770 (Mariani–Alipurduar) was short-originated from Digaru for the day.
Wildlife conservationists said the tragedy underlined the need for better coordination between agencies. “This shows that coordination between the concerned departments and the railways is still far from satisfactory. Ground-level coordination to share real-time elephant movement information with the railways is essential to avert such incidents,” said Bibhab Talukdar, chief executive officer of wildlife NGO Aaranyak.
The incident comes weeks after a similar case in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, where an adult elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Dhupguri on November 30, with a calf found injured near the tracks.
