A packed passenger train traveling at full speed derailed in northern India yesterday, killing at least 35 people and leaving up to 100 injured after carriages were thrown off the tracks.
Some of the 15 derailed carriages were left stacked on top of each other, as rescue teams worked to free people trapped inside the train in Uttar Pradesh, 150km south of Lucknow city.
“At least 35 people are dead and 100 injured are being treated at the scene and in hospital,” said K.N. Joshi, the local district chief medical officer. “I have seen a number of people still lying inside the coaches.”
The Press Trust of India news agency said the driver was among the injured and that local people had rushed to the crash site to help pull victims from the wreckage of twisted metal.
The train, carrying about 1,000 people, was moving at near its top speed of 108kph when it derailed, PTI quoted one regional railway manager as saying.
“We were sitting in our seats when suddenly everything turned upside down,” said a male passenger interviewed by the CNN-IBN news channel. “When the train stopped we broke the glass windows to jump out on the track.”
The Kalka Mail express train was traveling from Howrah, the main station for Kolkata, across India to New Delhi when it left the tracks near Malwa station.
The cause of the accident was unclear and railway officials said an investigation had been launched.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “expressed deep sorrow and shock at the loss of lives” and promised all resources in the area would be deployed for rescue and relief operations, his office said in a statement.
Anxious relatives and friends of the passengers gathered at Howrah and other stations along the line seeking information about their loved ones.
A special train was scheduled to take families of victims to the accident site, state officials said, while two military helicopters were also sent to assist.
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