View source for Rafiganj train wreck

{{Short description|2002 terrorist attack by Naxalites in north-central India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2015}}
{{nofootnotes|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
|name=Rafiganj train crash
|location=[[Rafiganj]],<br>[[Bihar]], [[India]]
|date=10 September 2002
| pushpin_map             = India Bihar
| pushpin_map_alt         = 
| pushpin_map_caption     = Location in Bihar, India
| coordinates             = {{coord|24.8317|N|84.5117|E|source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:IN|display=title}}
|time=22:40
|type=Deliberate derailment of train
|deaths=130–200
|injuries=150+
}}
{{Terrorist attacks in India (since 2001)}}
The '''Rafiganj rail disaster''' was the derailment of a train on a bridge over the [[Dhave River]] in North-Central [[India]], on 10 September 2002.  At least 130 people were killed in the crash, which was attributed in some reports to sabotage by a local [[Maoist]] [[terrorist]] group, the [[Naxalites]].

== Overview ==
The crash occurred at 10:40 p.m., when the Eastern Railway's high-speed, luxury ''[[Howrah Rajdhani Express]]'' train travelling at a speed of 130&nbsp;km/h derailed on a 300-foot bridge over the Dhave River near the town of [[Rafiganj]] near [[Gaya, India|Gaya]]. It was led by a Ghaziabad-based WAP5 locomotive.

The train had left [[Howrah]] with over 1,000 people on board six hours before, and was heading towards New Delhi. Fifteen of the 18 train cars derailed and fell across the tracks, two of them tumbling into the river beneath. People from other carriages were also thrown into the water by the force of the crash.

Rescuers, including local military personnel, were hampered by the region's poor roads, which had become muddy due to recent rain. Locals attempted to give what aid they could, and 125 people were pulled to safety by morning, but nothing could be done for those trapped in the carriages that had fallen into the swollen river.  

The death toll continued to rise in the following weeks. The river was searched for bodies, and several were found near villages downstream. The full death toll is unlikely to ever be known. In all, 130 bodies were recovered, but some sources claim that as many as 50 people are still missing. Some news reports give the figure of those killed as high as 200. At least 150 people were injured.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but it was originally thought that rust and metal fatigue on the colonial-era bridge contributed to a shift in the structure which cracked the rails, perhaps as a result of the heavy rains in the area. A railway employee said the bridge was known to be in poor state of repair, but as in the [[Kadalundi River rail disaster]] thirteen months earlier, nothing was done to repair the structure.

A later enquiry reported the cause as [[sabotage]], pointing to missing "fish plates" which were intended to anchor the rails to the bridge. These had apparently been removed at some point shortly before the crash. The investigators reported that the plates had probably been removed by [[Naxalite]]s, who were conducting a low-intensity guerrilla war at the time. The leaders of their organisation, the [[People's War Group]] had recently been arrested, and this was described as a being a revenge attack.

Other commentators have questioned this view, some claiming that fish plates were not missing at all, or that they were dislodged during the crash and fell into the river. Others assert that the fish plates may have been  missing either through common theft for scrap metal or through the shifting of the weakened bridge shortly before the accident. The Naxalites themselves have not claimed credit for the "attack", and have never been known to target trains before.

==External links==
* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/sep/09train.htm Early News Report]
* [http://southasia.insnews.org/headlines/2002/september/rail.crash.report.htm INS News on enquiry]
* [http://www.ifrc.org/docs/news/02/091002/ Red Cross News Report]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021217072333/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/09/world/main521347.shtml CBS Report on possible sabotage]
* [http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-21724548,prtpage-1.cms The sabotage debate]

{{2002 railway accidents}}


[[Category:2002 disasters in India]]
[[Category:21st-century mass murder in India]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 2002]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 2002]]
[[Category:Railway accidents in 2002]]
[[Category:Derailments in India]]
[[Category:Train wrecks caused by sabotage]]
[[Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Bihar]]
[[Category:Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]]
[[Category:2002 murders in India]]
[[Category:Bridge disasters in India]]
[[Category:Bridge disasters caused by terrorism]]
[[Category:Aurangabad district, Bihar]]
[[Category:Crime in Bihar]]
[[Category:September 2002 in India]]
[[Category:Communist terrorist incidents in India]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents on railway systems in India]]