Dozens of people died in a train accident between Kolkata and Chennai. Two passenger trains and a freight train were involved.
Dozens of people died in a train crash in India on Friday. PTI news agency and “India Today” reported 70 dead, while other media reported around 30 to 50. Several hundred people were injured, it said. Rescue work took place in the dark. Railway officials said the Coromandel Express from Kolkata to Chennai collided with the Howrah Superfast Express in Odisha state.
According to the Times of India, a senior official from Odisha said that two passenger trains and one freight train were involved in the accident. The exact course of the accident was initially unclear. According to the authorities, about 50 ambulances would be at the scene, reported the “Times of India”. Videos showed how helpers tried to save passengers from overturned cars.
More than 350 injured
Senior government official Pradeep Jena of Odisha wrote on Twitter that more than 350 passengers were initially taken to hospitals. Footage from the crash site showed rescuers searching the wreckage of a wagon for survivors. An eyewitness told local television station NDTV that he saw human body parts everywhere. He woke up when his train derailed. “10 to 15 people fell on me. My hands and neck were injured,” said the eyewitness.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Shaken by the Odisha train crash. In this hour of grief my thoughts are with the bereaved families.” He also wished the injured a speedy recovery in his tweet. The prime minister’s office announced compensation for the relatives of the dead of 200,000 rupees (2,267.57 euros) each. The wounded must therefore receive 50,000 rupees each. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also pledged Rs 1 million in compensation to the families of those killed. According to the information, the seriously injured are to receive 200,000 rupees each and the lightly injured 50,000 rupees each.
(APA)