146 found dead at Indian train crash site

Toll may go up as there is little hope of finding survivors in mangled remains of Indore-Patna Express’ 14 coaches, which came off the tracks near Pukhrayan rail station in Uttar Pradesh.

Having seen close to 146 of their co-passengers die, numerous passengers of a special train arranged for the survivors burst into tears, some crying aloud and hugging family members and friends as they reached Patna on Monday.

“There was a loud sound like an natural disaster”. The bodies have also been sent to various states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

“We have provided drinking water, food packets and essential medicines, and ensured that they reach their home safely”, he said. Most crashes are blamed on poor maintenance and human error. “I heard that the rescue team would leave tonight or tomorrow”. More than 150 were injured as some coaches crumpled when they crashed into others, trapping hundreds of people inside.

Rescuers using gas cutters to cut through the smashed metal coaches were searching for injured and bodies trapped inside.

An injured passenger and her son share a bed at a hospital in Kanpur on Monday.

“All of a sudden there was a massive jerk”, said one survivor, Ravindra Pathak.

Having seen close to 145 of their co-passengers dying in the deadly derailment, majority burst into tears, some crying aloud and hugging their family members, relatives and friends as they reached Patna in a special train on Monday morning.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his condolences.

“A railway officer from Kanpur rang me up and asked me to be ready to depose before the competent officer regarding my statement that wheels of Indore-Patna Express made some odd sounds on November 19”, Sharma (35), a resident of Kherkheda village in MP’s Mandsaur district, told PTI today.

In the immediate aftermath, Modi said his thoughts were with the victims loved ones, and the government announced aid packages for the families of the bereaved.

On his own Twitter account, Mr Prabhu warned that “strictest possible action will be taken against those who could be responsible for accident”.

The railway officials said it arranged transport for survivors to help them proceed to their destinations in other trains and buses. Despite being the most popular form of long-distance travel in India, several train accidents are reported each year.

In 2012, an Indian government report said about 15,000 people are killed every year in train accidents in the country, caused mainly by outdated equipment and overstretched staff.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who tweeted that he was “anguished beyond words” by Sunday’s accident – pledged last year to invest $137 billion United States over the next five years to modernize India’s railway network, which is used by about 23 million passengers a day.