Key Points
- Two trains collided in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
- The death toll is expected to increase.
- Rescue teams have been mobilised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
The death toll from the collision of two Indian passenger trains in the eastern state of Odisha has surged to 288 with more than 850 injured, making the rail accident the country's deadliest in more than two decades.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, also said that "rescue work is still going on" and there were "a lot of serious injuries".
The National Disaster Response Force Rescue continues work at the site of a train accident at Odisha Balasore, in India, on 3 June 2023. Source: AAP / EPA
Early on Saturday morning, video footage showed police officials moving bodies covered in white cloths off the railway tracks.
"I was asleep," an unidentified male survivor told NDTV news.
"I was woken up by the noise of the train derailing. Suddenly I saw 10-15 people dead. I managed to come out of the coach, and then I saw a lot of dismembered bodies."
Video footage from Friday showed rescuers climbing up one of the mangled trains to find survivors, while passengers called for help and sobbed next to the wreckage.
The collision occurred at about 7 pm local time on Friday when the Howrah Superfast Express, running from Bangalore to Howrah, West Bengal, collided with the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai.
Authorities have provided conflicting accounts on which train derailed first to become entangled with the other.
The Ministry of Railways said it has initiated an investigation into the incident.
Although Mr Jena and some media reports have suggested a freight train was also involved in the crash, railway authorities have yet to comment on that possibility.
An extensive search-and-rescue operation has been mounted, involving hundreds of fire department personnel and police officers as well as sniffer dogs.
National Disaster Response Force teams were also on site.
On Friday, hundreds of young people lined up outside a government hospital in Odisha to donate blood.
According to Indian Railways, its network facilitates the transportation of over 13 million people every day.
But the state-run monopoly has had a patchy safety record because of ageing infrastructure.
The state has declared Saturday a day of state mourning as a mark of respect to the victims.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said authorities' priority was "removing the living to the hospitals, that's our first concern, to look after the living".
Rescue operations were underway at the site and "all possible assistance" is being given to those affected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
India's deadliest railway accident occurred in 1981 when a train plunged off a bridge and into a river in Bihar state, killing an estimated 800 people.
