Rafiganj: The death toll in the Rajdhani Express pile-up at Rafiganj in Bihar on September 13 night climbed to 128 as the four-day exhausting rescue operations were finally called off by the Railways.

The Eastern Railway in a release in Kolkata said that the number of bodies recovered from the wrecked train stood at 115, of which 105 had been identified.

"Death toll following the derailment is now 115. Out of these 105 dead bodies have been identified. The total number of injured persons is 209," the release said, adding, "Rescue operation has been completed."

At Rafiganj, Mughalsarai divisional railway manager K K Saxena said 12 passengers also died en route to hospitals or after their admission to hospitals in Gaya, Aurangabad, Sasaram and Mughalsarai. Another person died aboard a special train on way to Howrah.

"The operation is finally over. We have searched all the bogies including the worst affected AS2 coach where many passengers died of suffocation. We believe that no more bodies are trapped inside," he said.

Sniffer dogs were also used in the detection of bodies.

PTI