Indian trains derail in floods killing up to 27
Print Edition
Two passenger trains derailed after flash floods struck a bridge they were crossing in central India, killing up to 27 people in the latest deadly accident on the nation’s crumbling rail network.
Rescuers pulled scores of terrified passengers to safety after they became trapped in carriages that toppled over on the weakened and flooded tracks in Madhya Pradesh state, railway and government officials said.
A total of 10 carriages and one engine from the express trains, traveling in opposite directions, were derailed minutes apart outside the town of Harda just before midnight on Tuesday.
The government has ordered an inquiry into the accident, but Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said it appeared the cause was a “flash flood due to heavy rains.”
Passengers described how they were jerked awake by the falling carriages, which quickly filled with muddy water.
“I was sleeping and suddenly I felt a jolt. I woke up and saw that all the passengers were screaming and running,” Manoj Mongi told the Hindustan Times newspaper’s website.
“I came out. I saw three women floating but I could not save them,” he added.
“The water level on the track was almost waist-high,” Shashi Bhushan Pandit, another passenger, added.
The Kamayani Express, travelling from the financial hub of Mumbai, came off the rails shortly after a surge of water from the nearby Machak river washed away soil on the small bridge, officials said.
The Janata Express, coming the other way from the eastern city of Patna and bound for Mumbai, then crossed over.
“The mud from under the tracks was washed away and the tracks were left in the air,” Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the NDTV network at the scene.
Minister Prabhu told parliament in New Delhi the number of confirmed deaths so far was only 12, but two officials in Madhya Pradesh put the death toll much higher.
State railway police chief MS Gupta said 27 people had been killed and another 70 injured.
Madhya Pradesh government spokesman Anupam Rajan said 25 bodies had been recovered.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sadness at the loss of life, adding that “authorities are doing everything possible on the ground.”
India’s railway network, one of the world’s largest, is still the main form of long-distance travel in the vast country, but it is poorly funded and deadly accidents are frequent.
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