At least 260 people have died and 850 injured in India’s horrific rail accident after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in Odisha state.
One train in Friday’s accident also hit a freight train parked nearby in the district of Balasore in Odisha state, leaving a tangled mess of smashed rail cars and injuring more than 850.
The death toll has reached 261, said K. S. Anand, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway. The AFP news agency had earlier quoted an official as saying 288 people had died. Surviving passenger Anubha Das said he would never forget the scene. “Families crushed away, limbless bodies and a bloodbath every where on the tracks,” he said.
Video footage showed derailed train coaches and damaged tracks, with rescue teams searching the mangled carriages to pull the survivors out and rush them to hospital.
People were seen searching for their relatives at the site and nearby hospitals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was flying to the scene, ANI news agency reported, citing sources.
“We have seen a large number of deaths,” a witness said.
Rescue teams including from the National Disaster Response Force and air force were deployed, while the railways ministry announced an investigation.
Authorities said every hospital between the crash site and the state capital Bhubaneswar around 200 kilometres (125 miles) away was receiving victims, with 200 ambulances — and even buses — deployed to transport them.
At Bhadrak District Hospital, bloodied and shocked survivors were receiving treatment in crowded wards.
The disaster comes despite new investments and upgrades in technology that have significantly improved railway safety in recent years.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who officials said would visit the crash site and hospitals later Saturday — said he was “distressed by the train accident”.
“In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon,” he tweeted.
Premier & Foreign Minister Condolences
Pakistan on Saturday expressed condolences to Indian government and hundreds of Indian families, who lost their loved ones in a horrific three-train collision in Odisha state, the country’s deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years.
The state has declared Saturday a day of state mourning as a mark of respect to the victims as 288 people have lost their lives, with more fatalities expected. Over 900 people injured are reported injured in the accident.
In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of hundreds of lives in the Indian train accident.
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. Prayers for speedy recovery of the injured,” the prime minister said.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said he was saddened after learning about the terrible incident.
“Our condolences for the families of the victims. Wish speedy recovery to the injured. #BalasoreTrainAccident,” he added.
