Death toll from Indian train crash nears 300; 850 others hurt
Which train derailed first and became entangled with the other has been disputed by authorities.
ODISHA:
A state government source told AFP on Saturday that the death toll from the collision of two Indian passenger trains in Odisha state had risen to 288 and that more than 850 people had been injured. This made it the deadliest rail catastrophe in India in more than two decades.
According to AFP, Odisha Fire Services Director General Sudhanshu Sarangi also stated that “rescue work is still going on” and that “a lot of serious injuries” had been sustained.
Over 200 ambulances, as well as an additional 100 doctors on top of the 80 already there, were dispatched to the scene of the accident on Friday in Odisha’s Balasore district, according to Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena’s Twitter post.
Police officials were seen early Saturday morning on Reuters film removing remains wrapped in white cloths from the railroad lines.
An unnamed male victim stated, “I was asleep,” to NDTV news. I woke up to the sound of the train wrecking outside. Rapidly, I counted between fifteen and twenty bodies. I escaped the coach and discovered several severed limbs and bodies.
On Friday, cameras captured rescue workers scrambling up one of the derailed trains in search of survivors, while distraught passengers cried out for aid near the scene.
At around 19:00 local time (1330 GMT) on Friday, the Coromandel Express, which travels from Kolkata to Chennai, collided with the Howrah Superfast Express, which travels from Bangalore to Howrah, West Bengal.
Authorities’ versions of which train derailed first and became entangled with the other are inconsistent. The Ministry of Railways has announced that they are looking into the matter.
However, railway authorities have not to comment on claims that Jena and the media have reported a freight train was also involved in the incident.
Hundreds of firefighters and police officials, aided by sniffer dogs, have launched a massive search and rescue operation. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force were present as well.
Hundreds of young people waited in line to donate blood at a government hospital in Soro, Odisha, on Friday.
Indian Railways claims that its infrastructure makes it possible to transport nearly 13 million passengers per day. However, the state-owned monopoly’s safety record has been inconsistent due to its aging infrastructure.
Saturday has been designated as a day of mourning in honor of the deceased.
In 1981, an estimated 800 passengers perished when a train in the state of Bihar in India careened off a bridge and into a river.
