Train services were severely affected after 53 wagons of a goods train carrying coal jumped tracks at Gurpa railway station in Bihar’s Gaya district, close to Jharkhand border.

The wagons and coal scattered all around the place of the mishap blocked the railway tracks, and obstructed the movement of trains at a time when lakhs of people are travelling to their native places in Bihar and Jharkhand to participate in the Chhath Puja (a festival dedicated to the worship of the Sun God).

People living in villages around the place of occurrence rushed to the railway station after hearing a loud noise, but were relieved to see that nobody had died in the mishap.

“The incident occurred at around 6:24 in the morning at Gurpa station on the Manpur (Gaya) — Koderma (Jharkhand) rail section, in which 53 wagons of a coal-laden goods train derailed. There were no casualties in the mishap, but it has disrupted the movement of trains on the up and down lines,” East Central Railway (ECR) chief public relations officer (CPRO) Virendra Kumar said.

Kumar added that rescue and relief vehicles and teams of railway officials rushed from different locations in Gaya and Dhanbad to clear the tracks and restore the movement of locomotives.

Railway officials who reached the accident site said that it would take at least a day to clear the debris from the tracks and restore the movement of trains.

Around two dozen trains, majority among them long-distance ones to and from Howrah, Ranchi and different parts of the country, were either diverted or terminated before their destination. A few trains were cancelled as well.

A large number of trains were stranded at different stations after the mishap giving a tough time to the passengers.