Railway Minister Mukul Roy today said the inquiry into the derailment of Doon Express incident will be conducted by Commissioner Railway Safety and stern action would be taken against the guilty.

The Minister along with the senior officials visited the accident site where the Doon Express derailed yesterday killing five persons and met the injured at the district hospital.

Mr Roy visited the district hospital in the wee hours and inquired about the well-being of the passengers injured in the accident. He said that expenses for the treatment of those seriously injured would be borne by the Railway Ministry.

During his visit to the accident site near Mahrawa Railway station, about 70 kilometres from Varanasi, he said the inquiry would be handed over to safety commissioner to find out the cause of the accident within seven days and stern action would be taken against guilty. Mr Roy said that effective steps would be taken to check such incidents in the future.

The minister said that while an ex-gratia of five lakh rupees each would be given to kin of passengers killed in the accident, financial assistance of one lakh rupees each would be given to the seriously injured and 50,000 rupees to those with minor injuries.

Five persons were yesterday killed and 50 others injured when seven bogies including five sleeper and two general coaches of Howrah-Dehradun Doon Express derailed near Mahrawa station.

Meanwhile, rescue and relief work is still going on at the accident site in Jaunpur district, where bogies of Doon Express got derailed yesterday.

Our Gorakhpur correspondent reports that the path is being cleared and fresh track is being laid so that the crane can move towards the upturned bogies.

The state government has also instructed the administration to provide all possible help to the victims on a priority basis