At least 207 people died this Friday and another 850 were injured, according to information from the authorities, in a very serious rail accident in India. The first version attributes it to the collision of a passenger train with another freight train, which in turn caused several wagons to overturn on the track in the opposite direction and were hit by another passenger train. The catastrophe has occurred in the state of Odisha, in the east of the country. It is the version of the Indian agency PTI, which cited official sources
The accident took place at around 7:20 p.m. local time (13:50 GMT), in the vicinity of the station in the town of Bahanaga, the rescue teams continue to work quickly to help the possible injured who are still in the place. So far, 300 people have been taken to nearby hospitals for their injuries, Odisha government sources told Indian television NDTV. The first images of the accident show fifteen wagons overturned on the tracks, with dozens of people on them trying to rescue the passengers who have been trapped inside.
According to the Indian Railways spokesman, Amitabh Sharma, the collision between the first two trains involved occurred around 7:00 p.m., after which another passenger train passing at high speed collided with several of the overturned carriages. Other versions differ on the details and reduce the number of trains involved to two: they claim that a passenger train derailed and its overturned cars were later hit by another convoy.
Three teams from the National Disaster Response Force, four units from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, more than 15 fire crews, 30 doctors, 200 police and 60 ambulances were mobilized, according to Odisha General Secretary Pradeep. Kumar. Rescue operations continue through the night despite the darkness, he added.
One of the crashed passenger trains was covering the route between the cities of Shalimar, in Kolkata, and Chennai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, while the other was moving from Yeswanthpur, in Bangalore, to Howrah, in Kolkata, according to reports. the Ministry of Railways on Twitter. The ministry has canceled more than a dozen trains that covered the damaged section and has diverted the route of several, while the minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced compensation of more than 12,000 dollars for the deceased, some 2,500 dollars for the seriously injured and 606 dollars for those with minor injuries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his dismay at the accident and announced that he is in contact with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to learn first-hand details of the accident and rescue operations.
According to the latest report from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) of India, in 2020 there were 13,018 accidents, in which 11,986 people died and another 11,127 were injured, with collisions being the cause of 70% of accidents.
The Indian railway network is, with a length of 68,000 kilometers, the fourth in length in the world, behind the United States, Russia and China, it has some 21,650 trains and 7,349 stations throughout the country, and transports some 23 million passengers daily. passengers.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
