Search stopped for survivors in Indian train derailment; 142 dead

Passenger Satish Kumar said that the train was traveling at normal speed when it stopped suddenly.

The derailment occurred near Pukhrayan, a village near the industrial city of Kanpur, when the coaches jumped the tracks.

Two carriages were completely smashed up beyond recognition.

Sinha said, those who are responsible for the incident will be punished, adding that all efforts are being taken to provide assistance to the bereaved families and other injured. She further said that many coaches were derailed and everybody was in shock.

Railway personnel, the army, National Disaster Response Force and state police had carried out rescue operations through the day yesterday. “All necessary assistance provided to the affected, we are taking care”.

While the seriously injured have been rushed to various hospitals for treatment, those with simple injuries were let off after first aid. Of the roughly 150 injured, 72 were in serious condition, he said.

According to railway and police officials, the derailment took place at 3.10am near Pukhrayan, about 60km from Kanpur. The train derailed in the rural district of Uttar Pradesh, in northern India.

Authorities have cancelled and diverted several trains after the accident along the track.

They struggled to pull out dead bodies and injured passengers from inside the doomed train as some of the coaches were completely crushed.

Almost 200 passengers have also suffered injury and have been admitted in various hospitals at Kanpur Dehat and other places.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Twitter.

The Indore -Patna Express that met6 with an accident due to the track failure and was one of the major accidents that killed more than 100 passengers.

The railway officials said it arranged transport for survivors to help them proceed to their destinations in other trains and buses.

India’s railway system is one of the largest in the world, employing 1.3 million people.

More than 15,000 people lose their lives every year in train accidents in India, according to government’s own estimates. The cause of the crash of the train is unknown yet and still under investigation. The worst occurrence occurred in 1981, when a passenger train fell into the Baghmati River in the north of the country, killing nearly 800 individuals.