Train crash in India leaves over 140 dead

Rescuers and people gathered at the site where a train derailed in Kanpur, in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. This has proved to be one of the worst train disasters in recent years in India.

The train may have also been carrying far more passengers that it was supposed to, reports said. Average speeds top just 50 kph (30 mph) and train accidents are common. “Right now our focus is on rescue and relief”, said Uttar Pradesh, Director General of Police, Javeed Ahmed. It said the train was travelling at 68 miles per hour when it crashed, and reported that the carriages were outdated. According to Reuters.com, more casualties are expected as the search for victims and survivors continue into the night.

By 8 PM, 120 bodies were recovered from the mangled coaches and majority taken to Mati mortuary in Kanpur rural, according to IG (Kanpur range) Zaki Ahmad, who said a few more passengers were feared trapped. The rescue efforts were going on until late.

Authorities have cancelled and diverted several trains after the accident along the track. Some told local media they suspected faulty tracks.

Rescuers used cutting torches to pry open cars and cranes to lift coaches from the tracks, moving carefully to prevent any cars from toppling over and injuring those trapped inside. “Suddenly I could feel the carriage was overturning”.

The railway ministry has listed 180 of the more than 200 people injured.

On Monday, Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu addressed the Lok Sabha on the tragedy and said that “forensic enquiry has been ordered to look into all possible angles” and that the “guilty will be given strict punishment”. Of the roughly 150 injured, 72 were in serious condition, he said.

It occurred near Kanpur city, a major railway junction and a key link in India’s rail network for connecting the eastern and western parts of the country.

He said four officers of Ratlam Railway Division under Western Railway came to his place today and connected him to a higher official, whom he apprised about his claim in detail. He pledged to modernize India’s railways with a $137 billion budget in the next five years.