Image: (APA/AFP/ARUN SANKAR)
The news agency PTI and “India Today” reported 70 dead, while other media reported around 30 to 50. Several hundred people were injured, it said. The rescue work took place in the dark. Railway officials said the Coromandel Express from Kolkata to Chennai collided with the Howrah Superfast Express in Odisha state.
According to the Times of India, a high-ranking official from Odisha said two passenger trains and one freight train were involved in the accident. The exact course of the accident was initially unclear. According to the authorities, around 50 ambulances are said to be on site, the “Times of India” reported. Videos showed how helpers tried to save passengers from overturned wagons.
High-ranking government official Pradeep Jena from Odisha wrote on Twitter that more than 350 passengers had initially been taken to hospitals. Pictures from the scene of the accident showed rescue workers searching for survivors in the wreckage of a wagon. An eyewitness told local television station NDTV that he saw human body parts everywhere. He woke up when his train derailed. “10 to 15 people fell on me. My hands and neck were injured,” said the eyewitness.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Shaken by the Odisha train crash. At this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with the bereaved families.” He also wished the injured a speedy recovery in his tweet. The prime minister’s office announced compensation for the relatives of the dead of 200,000 rupees (2,267.57 euros) each. Injured should therefore each get 50,000 rupees. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also pledged Rs 1 million in compensation for the families of the dead. According to the information, seriously injured people should receive 200,000 rupees each and slightly injured people 50,000 rupees each.
Source: Nachrichten
