Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said the death toll was expected to rise. Sudhanshu Sarangi, Director General of the Odisha Fire Service, said 207 bodies had been recovered so far.
The scene of a serious train accident in India on Friday (June 2). Photo: AP
Images from the scene showed rescuers climbing over the wreckage of one of the overturned trains to search for survivors. Videos shared on social media showed the arrival of several ambulances and people being pulled from overturned carriages.
“I was at the scene and I could see blood, broken limbs and dead people all around me,” said a witness. Hundreds of young people lined up outside a government hospital in Odisha’s Soro to donate blood.
Rescue teams have been mobilised from nearby areas to respond to the extremely serious accident, federal Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a tweet late on Friday.
A train was severely damaged in the accident. Photo: AP
India's National Disaster Response Force added that three of its teams were at the accident site and six more were being mobilised.
The collision occurred around 7 pm local time on Friday when the Howrah Superfast Express, running from Bangalore to Howrah, West Bengal, derailed and rammed into the Coromandel Express, running from Kolkata to Chennai, authorities said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that rescue operations were underway at the crash site and “all possible assistance” would be provided to help those affected.
The scene of the accident. Photo: AP
Despite efforts by the Indian government to improve rail safety, hundreds of accidents still occur every year on the country's railways, which have one of the world's largest rail networks.
In August 1995, two trains collided near New Delhi, killing 358 people in the worst rail accident in India's history. Most train accidents are caused by human error or outdated signaling equipment.
According to statistics, more than 12 million people travel by 14,000 trains across India every day, on a total of 64,000 km of track.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters, AP)
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