Over 230 people were killed and hundreds injured after multiple trains derailed in eastern Odisha state on Friday, officials said.
The death toll rose steadily throughout the night.
As dawn approached on Saturday, the chief secretary of Odisha, Pradeep Jena, said that at least 233 people were dead.
Rescue efforts in full swing
The accident happened in Balasore, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Odisha’s state capital, Bhubaneswar. An extensive search-and-rescue operation has been underway since, involving hundreds from the fire department and the police force who are using sniffer dogs. National Disaster Response Force teams were also at the site.
“Our top priority now is rescuing (the passengers) and providing health support to the injured,” Jena said.
Rescue teams and emergency personnel were working to rescue survivors and transport the injured to hospitals, he added.
Odisha has declared Saturday a day of state mourning as a mark of respect to the victims.
Meanwhile, hundreds of young people lined up outside a government hospital in Odisha’s Soro to donate blood.
What do we know so far?
The crash happened around 7:20 p.m. local time (13:50 GMT) near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore.
There are some conflicting accounts on which train came to derail first, but the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency cited officials as saying that three trains were involved in the crash.
PTI reported that the first to derail was the Bengaluru to Howrah train, which is known as the Howrah Superfast Express. Some of its carriages fell onto adjacent tracks.
Those derailed coaches collided with the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai.
As it derailed, the Coromandel Express then hit a freight train, officials told PTI.
Television images showed rescue teams trying to reach the survivors trapped inside mangled carriages, with scores of bodies laid out under white sheets beside the tracks.
The Ministry of Railways said it has initiated an investigation into the incident.
tweeted that rescue operations were underway at the site and “all possible assistance” is being given to those affected.
India no stranger to rail accidents
Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, accidents occur every year on India’s railways, the largest train network under one management in the world.
In 2018, a commuter train drove through a crowd gathered on the tracks for a festival in nothern India’s Amritsar city, killing at least 59 people and injuring dozens of others.
In 2017, over 40 people were killed after several coaches of a passenger train went off the rails in southern Andhra Pradesh state.
Most train accidents in the country are blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.
More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India every day, traveling on 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track.
rm, mm/sri (AFP, AP, Reuters)
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