The toll of the collision of several trains in eastern India has risen to at least 207 dead, Sudhanshu Sarangi told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday June 3 at the start of the day. , Chief Executive of Odisha State Fire Services. “The toll will get even heavier,” he added, from the crash site. “Rescue operations are continuing at the site and it will take us a few more hours to complete them. »
A senior representative of the regional government, Pradeep Jena, for his part, told AFP that around 850 people had been hospitalized. AFP journalists on the spot saw overturned wagons, rescuers working tirelessly to extract survivors from the wreckage, and many corpses covered in white shrouds lying next to the tracks at the scene of the tragedy, near Balasore, in about 200 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha.
Amitabh Sharma, the director of Indian Railways, said two passenger trains were "actively involved in the accident" on Friday. A third train involved in the disaster is a freight convoy that was parked at the site where the collision occurred.
A survivor told reporters he was asleep when the crash happened, and awoke to find himself under a dozen other passengers, before crawling out of his compartment with injuries to his chest. neck and arm.
Air Force 'Mobilized'
A relentless parade of ambulances overnight delivered injured people to Bhadrak district hospital, where bloodied and shocked survivors are being treated in overcrowded conditions.
"We have prepared all major public and private hospitals, from the crash site to the state capital, to take care of the injured," said SK Panda, a spokesman for state authorities. State. He added that "75 ambulances" had already been dispatched and "numerous coaches" had also been dispatched to transport both injured passengers and survivors.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "distressed". Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw meanwhile said he was going to the scene of the disaster, pointing out that the air force was also mobilised.
Other accidents despite better safety
India has experienced several other rail disasters in the past but safety on the rails has improved significantly in recent years thanks to massive new investments and technological upgrades. The deadliest railway accident in this country is that of June 6, 1981 when, in the state of Bihar, seven wagons of a train which was crossing a bridge, fell into a river, the Bagmati, making between 800 and 1 000 dead.
On October 19, 2018, a train rammed worshipers gathered for a Hindu festival in the northern state of Punjab. Result: around 60 dead and 90 injured. The crowd was on the train tracks to watch a pyrotechnic show.
Another particularly deadly recent accident: on November 20, 2016, the Patna-Indore express train, carrying 2,000 people, derailed very early in the morning in a rural area of the state of Uttar Pradesh, at one o'clock where most of its passengers slept. 146 dead and nearly 180 injured were then recorded. The 14 wagons were off the track near the town of Kanpur.
