At least 50 people died and another 500 people were injured this Friday due to the collision of a passenger train with another of goods, causing, in turn, several wagons to overturn on the opposite track and were hit by another passenger train in the state of Odisha, in eastern India.
“Some 50 people have died and more than 500 have been injured. Our top priority now is to rescue (the passengers) and assist the injured,” Pradeep Jena, chief secretary of Odisha state, told AFP.
The accident took place at around 7:20 pm, local time, in the vicinity of the station in the town of Bahanaga. So far, 300 people have been taken to nearby hospitals for their injuries, Odisha government sources told Indian television NDTV.
Images of the accident show fifteen wagons overturned on the tracks, with several 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 pm, after which another passenger train passing at high speed collided with several of the overturned carriages.
Three teams from the National Disaster Response Force, four units from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, more than 15 teams of firefighters, 30 doctors, 200 police and 60 ambulances have been mobilized to the site, the secretary general of Odisha, Pradeep Kumar. Rescue operations will continue through the night despite the darkness, he added.
The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed his anguish over the accident and announced that he is in contact with the Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, to take stock of the situation.