40 dead in Indian train crash

[caravanman]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/train-collision-in-northern-india-kills-at-least-40-20140527-zrp1w.html

Sad news.

Ed.

 

[jis]

Apparently the express derailed and sideswiped a freight train on the adjacent track and then piled up on itself. One of the problems in India is that most trains still use chain link couplers which are not very good at maintaining longitudinal integrity of the train in a collision, unlike the tight-lock AAR center couplers used in the US.

 

[Bob Dylan]

When tragedies like this happen in India do ambulance chasing lawyers come out of the woodwork or is everyone on their own?,Who would be liable for damages, the Government???

 

[jis]

I don't know the details of how accidents like this are handled. I know that the Railways decide on some amount for those injured and for the next of kin of those that die, and pay that out. Beyond that, if lawyers manage to sue the railways and extract some more money from it, I don't know.

 

[Texan Eagle]

When tragedies like this happen in India do ambulance chasing lawyers come out of the woodwork or is everyone on their own?,Who would be liable for damages, the Government???

In my several years of living in India, neither me nor any friends or family I know have been involved in a train accident (thankfully, hoping it continues to be the same), so my information is based off media reports mostly, but for what its worth, the way it works is-

As soon as the news of a major accident (multiple deaths) comes out, the federal government announces a certain amount of "ex-gratia compensation" X rupees to next of kin of dead and Y rupees for injured.. the values of X and Y differ from accident to accident and I have no idea how the figure is arrived at. Sometimes in addition to this, the state government where the accident happened will also announce a separate ex-gratia compensation. Again, I have no idea what is the criteria for this. In any case, these payments are not very significant- something in the order of $1500 to $10,000 for next of kin of dead, and sometimes as low as $400 for injured.

Also, it is customary for the railways to pick up the tab for all hospital and medical bills of the injured as long as the person gets treatment in the hospitals where they were first taken, which are usually government hospitals that may or may not be very good. If someone decides to move themselves to a better private hospital, railways may or may not pay for the additional expense there, but I know at least one case of the terrorist bomb blasts in commuter trains in Mumbai where the railways picked up all the expenses for the injured including the ones who decided to move to expensive private hospitals for better treatment.

Beyond this, I am not aware of accident lawyers like we have here in the US going after the railways to extract a huge compensation amount.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Thanks for the info! Good to know its not everyone for themselves in India when tragedy strikes like in third world countries!

 

[caravanman]

Rather interestingly, the railway or local elected ministers seem to pay out for deaths of trespassers as well as those involved in train crashes. This may not happen all the time, but I remember reading of it when I was in India. Sadly, many people are hit by trains, I have seen dozens of people flood across the tracks to reach trains, even in New Delhi station. I think being an Indian train driver must be quite tough on the nerves...

Ed.