The Intercity Express had just left Nagrakata station at about 8.20 am and had just crossed the Jaldahaka river, when the driver of the train spotted the herd and applied the brakes bringing the train to a halt. Behind it, the Delhi-bound, Mahananda Express was also held up.
With the herd refusing to budge from the tracks, the passengers of the train were getting restive and were blaming the forest staff for not coming promptly to the spot to disperse the elephants.
“I had got on the train at Alipurduar and before we left Nagrakata station and proceeded towards Chulsa, there was no information with the railway staff that there was a herd of elephants standing on the tracks. Just after we had crossed the railway bridge over the Jaldhaka river, the train suddenly came to a lurching halt," said Achinta Basu, one of the passengers. Read the full report here.
Source: The Telegraph, Jalpaiguri.
