Rescuers finish search of Indian train wreck, 133 dead

Relatives of missing passengers are clinging on to hopes of finding their kin under mangled carriages even as search and rescue measures were carried out overnight. One carriage was nearly lying on its side, and appeared to have been completely torn apart.

The train, which links the central Indian city of Indore to the city of Patna in its north east, was halfway through its journey when it went off the track near Kanpur, around 300 miles southeast of New Delhi.

Early on Monday the railway ministry published a list of names of injured passengers.

An estimated 2,000 people were on board the intercity express train when it came off the tracks around 3 am on Sunday, violently jolting passengers out of their sleep. I saw one carriage that was being lifted up suddenly fall to the ground – the crane could not handle it properly. “I immediately held the metal rod near the bathroom door”, said Faizal Khan who was travelling with his wife and two children, all of whom survived the accident.

The accident killed at least 145, of which 116 had been identified, according to Dr. Aneeta Singh, the chief medical officer of Kanpur Dehat district where Pukhrayan village is located.

Prabhu on Sunday night visited the hospitals where the injured were being treated. Officials are saying that those caught in the debris are likely dead by now.

“I had never seen anything like this in my life before”. He said thousands of food packets, water bottles and cups of tea were being provided to the stranded passengers.

A high-level probe had been ordered by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who today promised “strictest possible action” against the guilty.

A 2012 government report said about 15,000 people are killed in train accidents every year in India.

Police at the accident site said rescue teams had finished their search for bodies buried in the 14 carriages that derailed in the early hours while most of the more than 500 passengers were asleep.

This has proved to be one of the worst train disasters in recent years in India.

Last year Japan agreed to provide $12 billion in soft loans to build India’s first bullet train, though plans remain in their infancy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern over the derailment.

Fourteen carriages of the Indore-Patna Express derailed just after 03:00 local time on Sunday (21:30 GMT Saturday) near the city of Kanpur.

“I fear I will find her in the same condition”, said Verma who was to travel with his family to a wedding but couldn’t get leave from work and was supposed to join them later.