India’s train death toll rises to 120 and another 850 injured in rubble: Rescue teams fight to free hundreds trapped in carriages after freight and passenger services collide and derail in Balasore
- At least 132 people are feared dead and more are feared trapped under the train carriages.
At least 207 people have been killed and 900 injured in one of the worst rail accidents to hit India.
Two passenger trains collided in Odisha, eastern India, on Friday, and rescuers were frantically searching for others they feared trapped under the carriages that derailed in Balasore.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of the Odisha Fire Services, said tonight that 120 people have died and the number is rising, as the search for survivors continues in the area 1,000 miles northwest of the capital New Delhi.
Sarangi added: “A very sad incident and the prognosis is not good.”
Chief State Secretary Pradeep Jena confirmed that “around 850 injured people have been sent to hospitals” and that rescue work is continuing.
Rescuers at the site of a passenger at the site of the downed train carriages
People inspecting the site of the passenger train.
120 people have died and 850 injured after a passenger train collided with a freight train in eastern India
Rescuers were trying to free 200 people trapped under derailed train carriages.
The trains that crashed in Balasore, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the state capital, Bhubaneswar, were traveling in opposite directions.
One of the trains involved is reportedly the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, The Press Trust Agency of India said.
About 500 police and rescue workers attended the accident with 75 ambulances and buses in tow, said Pradeep Jena, the chief bureaucrat of Odisha state.
Amitabh Sharma, a spokesman for the Ministry of Railways, said 10 to 12 carriages of a train derailed, while debris from some of the wrecked carriages fell onto nearby tracks.
They also derailed up to three carriages of the second train.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “distraught” over the incident.
Writing on Twitter, he said: ‘Distraught over train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families.
‘May the injured recover soon. I spoke to the Railway Minister, Ashwini Waishnaw, and he took stock of the situation.
“Rescue operations are being carried out at the scene of the accident and all possible assistance is being provided to those affected.”
Rescuers are trying to help 200 people who are reportedly trapped under derailed train carriages. In the picture: people trying to escape from the overturned compartments
Local reports say that the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, collided with a freight train in Balasore, East India.
President Modi said he was “distraught” over the Odisha train incident
The collision is a “serious accident”, HK Dwivedi, chief secretary of West Bengal, told reporters.
South Eastern Railway officials, who did not ask to be named, said they fear there were a large number of casualties.
Over the years, the Indian government has made efforts to improve rail safety, but despite this, several hundred accidents a year continue to occur on what is one of the largest train networks in the world. .
The worst train accident in Indian history occurred in August 1995 in New Delhi, killing 358 people.
Most train accidents are attributed to human error or outdated signaling equipment.
More than 12 million people travel on 14,000 trains across India every day, covering 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of tracks.
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