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TWO PASSENGER TRAINS derailed after being hit by flash floods on a bridge in central India, killing at least 24 people in the latest deadly accident on the nation’s crumbling rail network.
Rescuers have been searching through the night for passengers trapped on the trains that toppled when a swollen river struck the tracks in Madhya Pradesh state, railway officials said.
Roughly 300 people were rescued after about 10 of the trains’ carriages derailed outside the town of Harda at about 11.30pm yesterday, police and other officials said.
A passenger described how water poured into the carriages in the minutes after the accident.
“Water filled the coach till here,” the unnamed man told a regional TV station, gesturing to his waist.
Another said there was “a sudden jerk and the carriage broke and people were crushed under that”.
Television footage showed carriages lying on their sides in a field of mud and medical supplies piled on a nearby station platform.
“All the coaches have been cleared and all bodies have been collected from inside,” Madhya Pradesh railway police chief M.S Gupta told AFP.
At least another 25 people have been injured and taken to hospital, other rescue officials said, adding that carriages were not feared to have sunk in the river.
The Kamayani Express travelling from the financial city of Mumbai appeared to have been hit by a sudden surge of water on the swollen Machak river, derailing the last four to five carriages, railway ministry spokesman Anil Saxena told Indian television.
The Janata Express, travelling to Mumbai from the eastern city of Patna, was also hit by the water, with the engine and the first two to three carriages derailing, he said.
“There is some suggestion of flash floods on the tracks that caved the tracks. Most of the coaches had passed but the last few carriages were derailed,” Saxena said of the first train.
Rescuers with specialist cutting equipment and diving suits have been deployed along with doctors to the accident site.
Working in darkness
Rescuers were initally working through the night mostly in darkness, with the flood waters hampering their efforts.
“The entire area has been reeling under heavy rainfall for the last few days. The roads are badly damaged, even the access road,” Saxena said.
The heavy flow of water had pushed some of the bodies from the carriages into a nearby field, railway police chief Gupta said.
Monsoon rains have hit large swathes of the country in recent weeks, flooding rivers and roads and claiming some 180 lives in mainly western and eastern India.
The government has ordered an inquiry into the cause of the accident, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness at the loss of life.
“Authorities are doing everything possible on the ground. The situation is being monitored very closely,” Modi said on Twitter.
“Rushing emergency medical and other relief personnel to spot, darkness, water creating hurdles but ordered all possible help. Trying our best,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Twitter shortly after the accident.
- © AFP 2015.
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Calling bus routes N4 and N6 when neither of them run on those roads isn’t confusing at all.
@Reuben Gray: It may also be confusing for visitors. An “N” before or after the route number is almost always used for night only routes throughout Europe.
@Reuben Gray: Agree with both of these points, the N4 and the N6 will run on the N2 and N3! Theres still time to pick any other letter, nobody cares that N means North, its been the 17A for the last million years, call them A4 and A6 or whatever, the passengers will feel like they’re in an Audi.
@Eoin Roche: what Dublin bus will run on the N2 during the day please. Genuine question. Thanks
@Colonel Buckshot: It is here to with NiteLink!
@Aurelio Na Fodhla: None. The N6 Route will operate on the N2, but its being operated by Go-Ahead.
Since they took over the bus routes its been a shambles buses not turning up on time or simply moved to a other routes #bus number 9 routes
Only a matter of time before they end the late night service due to the usual yobs causing problems.
@Paul Shepherd: Wow. Close your curtains buddy, buy a water melon and watch Dirty Dancing. #crazyforswayze
A complete joke as the N4 and N6 routes are not serving the communities of the services they are replacing.
Now people have to wait in Finglas Village to change buses and trust me the wind coming off the N2 goes straight through you, No shelter and no room for one.
Its been a farce from start to finish.
@Gerrard: Howth Junction you eejit
have your say