In Tamil Nadu, at least 10 passengers were killed and 86injured in a train accident near Arakonam in Vellore district on Tuesday night. The accident accured when the Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) hit the rear of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger that was waiting for signal at the Chitheri station. Eight coaches derailed and three coaches were completely damaged. Five bogies of the stationary train and three bogies of the moving train derailed. The injured passengers were shifted to the Naval and Government Hospital in Arakkonam. Rescue and relief operations are going on in full swing. Director-General of Police K. Ramanujam told our correspondent that adequate manpower, including a company of the Tamil Nadu Special Police, have been deployed in the rescue operations. The impact of the accident was so huge that three bogies of the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train were thrown off the tracks. Rain and darkness hampered the rescue operations initially. However, all efforts were made to free the trapped people. Rescue workers used gas cutters to help pull out the trapped passengers from inside the derailed bogies. Train traffic on the busy Chennai-Katpadi section has been disrupted and several trains leaving Chennai Central have been affected. Though no official confirmation on the cause of this accident has been made, human error can’t be ruled out as the cause.