Local media and authorities in eastern India reported that a passenger train collision with a goods train resulted in dozens of fatalities and 300 injuries.
Around 200 kilometers from the state capital Bhubaneswar, the Coromandel Express passenger train and a goods train collided on Friday near Balasore in the Odisha state, according to witnesses and officials who spoke to local media.
According to Odisha’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena, a second passenger train was also involved in the incident, though it was still unclear how it happened.
About 50 people were “feared dead,” according to the Press Trust of India, which cited unnamed officials. At the scene, many passengers were thought to be trapped under rail cars.
300 people were admitted to hospitals, according to Reuters.
In the meantime, AFP was informed by the deputy inspector general’s office of the Balasore police that at least 200 people had reportedly been hurt, many of them seriously.
Under the condition of anonymity, the police official said, “The details are not too clear yet as teams are on the ground and everyone is busy in the rescue work.”
About 60 ambulances and emergency teams had been sent to the scene, according to Jena, to assist in getting the injured people to local hospitals.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, expressed his distress over the train accident.
My thoughts are with the families of the deceased during this difficult time. I hope the injured gets better quickly. Modi posted on Twitter, “Had a conversation with Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw and assessed the situation.
Images from local media reports showed a train car toppled to one side of the track with what appeared to be survivors on top of it and bystanders attempting to rescue other victims.
India’s railways experience several hundred accidents annually, the majority of which are attributed to human error or dated signaling technology.
Each day, 14,000 trains carrying more than 12 million passengers traverse 64,000 km of track in India.
Source Reuters
