At least three trains involved. At least 120 people have been killed and 850 others injured in a train crash in eastern India, according to emergency services. A passenger train, the Coromandel Express, and a freight convoy collided near Balasore, about 200 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha, witnesses and government spokespersons said regional.
"At the last count, we have more than 120 dead and this figure is increasing because there are many serious injuries, head injuries", explained to Agence France-Presse Sudhanshu Sarangi, the director general of the fight services. Odisha State Fire Fighter. "A very sad event and the outlook is not good." A senior regional government official, Pradeep Jena, told AFP that "around 850 people had been admitted to hospitals".
A second passenger train was also involved in the tragedy, according to Pradeep Jena, a senior government official in that state, but the exact circumstances under which it happened are unknown. “About 50 people died and over 500 injured. Our top priority now is to rescue (passengers) and treat the injured,” Pradeep Jena told AFP earlier in the evening.
A Balasore police official told AFP that many of the injured were in serious condition but he did not know more at this time. Many passengers could also have been trapped under wagons.
“We expect the relief operations to continue at least until tomorrow morning. From our side, 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 spokesperson for the authorities. of State.
He added that "75 ambulances" had already been dispatched and "numerous vans" 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, stressing that "the air force" was also "mobilised".
