India train crash: Over 280 dead & 850 injured after 2 trains derailed in world’s deadliest rail disaster in 20 years
AT least 288 people have been killed and upwards of 850 injured in the world’s deadliest rail disaster in 20 years.
Emergency responders rushed to Odisha’s Balasore district in India on Friday evening after two crowded passenger trains collided.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, confirmed 288 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage.
More than 850 are injured, a state government official told AFP on Saturday, with countless others still feared missing.
Terrifying footage shows onlookers and firefighters scramble to save those trapped.
An eyewitness said: “I was there at the site and I could see blood, broken limbs and people dying around me.”
The Coromandel Express collided with the Howrah Superfast Express around 7.30pm.
More than 200 ambulances were rushed to the devastating scene, according to Odisha’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena.
It is understood one passenger train derailed before being struck by a second train on an adjacent track.
Multiple carriages then followed, with countless toppling onto their side.
It’s feared many more remain trapped in the wreckage.
Indian Railways said the two trains involved in the horror were the Coromandel Express and the Howrah Superfast Express.
Director general of the fire department in Odisha Sudhanshu Sarangi said: “A very sad incident and the prognosis is not good.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon.
“Spoke to Railway Minister and took stock of the situation.
“Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected.”
Home Minister Amit Shah said the crash was “deeply agonising”
A male survivor told India’s ANI news agency: “10 to 15 people fell on me when the accident happened and everything went haywire.
“I was at the bottom of the pile.
“I got hurt in my hand and also the back of my neck.
“When I came out of the train bogie, I saw someone had lost their hand, someone had lost their leg, while someone’s face was distorted.”
The world hasn’t seen a train crash so catastrophic since 2004, when Sri Lanka’s Queen of The Sea rail was hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
