Over 40 passengers suffered injuries when 12 bogies of the Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express derailed near Kanpur around 1am on Saturday.

Four of the derailed coaches had overturned, North Central Railway public relations officer Amit Malviya said.

Sources said the train got split in two parts at Rooma village 15km from Kanpur Central station. Eight AC coaches, three sleeper compartments and one pantry car derailed.

Among those injured, the condition of 14 was stated to be serious at Kanshi Ram Emergency Hospital and Trauma Centre in Kanpur. The other injured persons are receiving treatment at Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur.

Romel Jaiswal, a passenger from Patna, told reporters that she heard a deafening sound before the train jumped tracks. “Our bogie overturned,” she said.

Satyendra Kumar, a pantry car employee, said: “It seemed as if the coach had been flung in the air. Then there was complete darkness.”

He said the rescue team of police and railway officials reached after around an hour.

Kanpur district magistrate Vijay Vishwas Pant said: “Our foremost priority is to provide all possible treatment to the injured passengers. The investigating teams are looking into the reason behind the accident.”

Phool Singh, the driver, said the train was running at its usual speed, indicating that there could have been some problem with the tracks.

“The maximum speed of the train is 130kmph. It was running at 127kmph at the time of the accident. I felt a massive jerk but didn’t realise that the train had met with an accident. The guard informed me over the walkie-talkie that several bogies had derailed. The scene was horrible when I came out of the engine and looked behind,” Singh said.

The railways have issued the following helpline numbers: 1072, 9454403738, 9454401463, 9454401075, 9454400384 and 0512- 23333111/112/113.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said he had asked state government officials to help the injured passengers in every way possible.

A.K. Jain, commissioner, railway safety, has begun an inquiry. Jain said a special 14-coach train left for New Delhi around 5.45am with 900 passengers of the Poorva Express from Kanpur station, where they had been brought in buses. Another 10-bogie train left around 7.50am with the remaining passengers.

North Central Railway PRO Malviya said the New Delhi-Howrah Down line had been cleared, while work was underway on the Up line, which was likely to be restored by evening.

As many as 28 trains were diverted and 16 cancelled because of the derailment, officials said.

O.P. Singh, the director-general of Uttar Pradesh police, said one shouldn’t jump to conclusions before a proper inquiry is conducted.

“The rescue operation ended around 12pm. The anti-terrorism squad is at the spot to probe if there was sabotage. Let us wait for the report,” he said.