Brian McDonald
New Delhi – At least eight people were killed and more than 50 were injured when a freight train crashed into a passenger train on Monday in India. The accident happened in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal when the goods train hit the Kanchanjunga Express in the New Jalpaiguri area, derailing at least three carriages of the passenger train.
The Kanchanjunga Express was traveling from Silchar in the state of Assam to Sealdah in Kolkata when the collision occurred.
Vivid images broadcast by Indian TV news channels showed hundreds of people watching rescuers try to save passengers trapped in the wrecked carriages, one of which was left in the air at a steep angle.
India’s national network NDTV said the relatively low death toll, given the severity of the accident, could be due to the freight train crashing into the rear carriages of the passenger train, which was not believed to be carrying passengers.
DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty
“Five people, including the locomotive[motive] pilot of the Kanchanjunga Express, died at the scene. Twenty-five people were injured,” Abhishek Roy, Additional Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling Police District, told reporters at the scene, adding that efforts to rescue those trapped in the train continued.
Authorities later raised the confirmed death toll to eight.
The accident forced suspension of all train services on the Kolkata-Siliguri line, officials said.
“Rescue work is complete,” Jaya Verma Sinha, chairman of the Indian Railway Board, told reporters, adding that the injured victims were receiving “the best possible treatment”.
Sinha said human error was probably the cause of the accident as “it appears that the driver of the goods train ignored the signal”.
DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty
A detailed investigation was expected to confirm the cause of the fatal accident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the accident “saddening” and announced informal government aid payments of 200,000 Indian rupees (about $2,400) to the families of those killed in the incident and 50,000 rupees (about $600 ) for the injured.
Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced separate state compensation of 1 million rupees (about $12,000) for each family that had someone killed in the accident and 250,000 rupees (about $3,000) for the injured.
India has one of the largest rail networks on the planet, but accidents are common. In June 2023, one of India’s deadliest train accidentsinvolving three trains in the eastern state of Odisha, killed nearly 300 people and injured more than 1,000.
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