Tragic end: People crowding around as officials start the repair work at the site of the passenger train accident near Gonda, 200km from Lucknow, India. — AP
An Indian passenger train derailed and several of its cars overturned, killing at least two people and injuring 35 others with rescue and relief efforts ongoing.
India’s railway network is the main form of travel in the vast country, but it is poorly funded and deadly accidents often occur.
The Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express, a 22-car passenger service that runs for 2,640km, derailed near the northern Hindu holy city of Ayodhya, at 2.30pm (5.30pm local time) on Thursday.
“Two people have died,” Indian Railways spokesman Pankaj Kumar Singh said.
Uttar Pradesh state relief commissioner Naveen Kumar said that another 35 were injured, three of them seriously.
He added that rescue operations were finished and no one was trapped inside the train.
The cause of the incident was not immediately clear.
At least four carriages had overturned at the site of the accident in Gonda district, broadcaster NDTV reported.
Footage aired by the network showed passengers standing on top of a derailed compartment that had crashed onto its side while others milled about the wreckage.
“The train accident in Gonda district is extremely sad,” Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath posted on social media platform X.
“District administration officials have been directed to carry out relief and rescue operations on a war footing and to take the injured to the hospital,” he added.
Anil Kumar Tiwari, chief medical superintendent of Gonda District Hospital said that a team of medics had been rushed to the accident site.
India has launched a US$30bil (RM140.3bil) railway infrastructure modernisation in a bid to boost the economy and connectivity.
But analysts say that while the number of accidents has gone down over time, India’s antiquated rail system still has a long way to go.
An average of 20,000 people died each year between 2017 and 2021 in rail accidents – collisions, derailments and other causes –according to official records.
Defective tracks, poor maintenance and old signalling kit combined with human error were the main cause of derailments, a report by India’s top audit authority said.
Last year, nearly 300 people were killed when a passenger train and a stationary goods train collided, with the derailed compartments striking another fast-moving passenger service. — AFP
