The accident is one of India’s deadliest ever. Television images from the scene show wrecked carriages, twisted metal and a large number of passengers lying next to the crash site in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. – There were loud cries for help and blood everywhere. Many were trapped inside the compartments and were shouting for help, says Ashok Samal to the Hindustan Times. He heard the brakes and saw the crash before running to the scene to help. The number of confirmed dead is expected to increase. Night to Saturday local time, 261 have died, according to the Reuters news agency. The number of injured is now said to be over 900. – There is blood and people dying around me, an eyewitness told Reuters. India’s worst train accidents of 2018: At least 59 people died when a train hit a crowd of people standing on the track during a festival in northern India. 2017: 23 people lost their lives and 70 were injured when nine carriages derailed near Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh. 2017: At least 41 people died after several carriages derailed in southern Andhra Pradesh. 2016: 146 people lost their lives and over 200 were injured when an express train derailed in Uttar Pradesh. 2011: Around 70 people were killed and over 300 injured when a mail train derailed in Fatehpur in the north of the country. 2005: At least 77 people lost their lives when several carriages derailed on 29 October 2009 in Andhra Pradesh. 1999: At least 285 people died when two trains crashed near Kolkata. 1995: At least 350 people lost their lives when two trains crashed 200 kilometers from Delhi. 1988: At least 106 people lost their lives when ten carriages of a train in Kerala fell into a lake after the train derailed. 1981: At least 800 people lost their lives when seven wagons blew off the track and fell into a river during a cyclone. Source: India Today Modi visits the crash site today The Indian Army has been called in to assist with the evacuation and handling of injured passengers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says they are giving all possible help to those affected by the accident. On Twitter, he writes: “In this time of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved. May the injured recover soon.” He will visit the scene of the accident today. It is still uncertain what caused the accident. The Hindustan Times newspaper points to human error, as the speeding train ran on the wrong track for several minutes before the crash. Three trains are said to have been involved in the accident: A passenger train derailed and several carriages fell onto the opposite track. They were hit by another train at high speed on Friday evening. A freight train was parked at the scene of the accident. The death toll and the number of injured are rising after trains collided in India, Friday 2 June 2023 Photo: AP Trapped passengers The train accident is the worst in India in nearly 20 years, the authorities say. In 1995, 350 people died in a train accident outside the capital, New Delhi. Rescue crews have worked intensively to get out several hundred people who are stuck in the wreckage of the train carriages, says district manager Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde from Balasore. One of the survivors says that he had 10-15 people over him when the accident happened. – I was at the bottom of a pile of people. When I came out of the train wreck, I saw someone who had lost his hand. One had lost a leg. Another had a broken face, he says according to the BBC. Between ten and twelve train carriages derailed in the accident, and wreckage ended up on a track next to it, says a spokesperson for the Ministry of Railways to the AP news agency. Another passenger train, coming from the opposite direction, ran into the wreckage, and up to three carriages from this train also derailed. Pictures from the scene of the accident show people climbing on the wreckage in the hope of rescuing the injured. The large rescue crew works to rescue passengers from the wrecked trains. Photo: AFP Freight train also involved A freight train was also involved in the incident, says Amitabh Sharma of Indian Railways to AFP. This train was parked at the scene of the accident. Almost 500 police officers and rescue teams, as well as 200 ambulances and buses, have taken part in the rescue effort, according to Pradeep Jena. The Indian railway network is the largest in the world under one central management. Every day, about 12 million Indians take the train, writes NTB. Several hundred train accidents occur in India every year, and many of them are due to old signaling systems or human error. In recent years, major new investments have contributed to improving the safety of train traffic in India.
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