At least 19 dead, hundreds rescued in India train derailments

Two passenger trains derailed over a bridge in central India while crossing a track that was flooded by heavy monsoon rains, killing at least 19 people, officials said Wednesday. At least 250 people were rescued.

Divers using cutting torches pulled out trapped passengers and rescued 300 by early morning, officials said. Dozens were rushed to hospital in critical condition.

“We are trying to rescue passengers. Relief work is going on on a war footing. We are checking all carriages to look for trapped passengers,” railway official Anil Saksena said.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has increased spending to modernize India’s vast train network that carries some 23 millions passengers a day, tweeted, “The two train accidents in Madhya Pradesh are deeply distressing. Deeply pained over the loss of lives.”

The Kamayani Express was on its way to Mumbai when it derailed late Tuesday night near the town of Harda in Madhya Pradesh state, while the Janata Express was traveling in the opposite direction when it derailed soon after.

The trains were crossing a bridge over the rain-swollen Machak River, about 590 miles south of New Delhi, where flash floods had collapsed tracks, said Saksena.

Six coaches from the Kamayani Express and the engine and four coaches from the Janata Express derailed.

At least two cars were partially submerged in the river, Saksena said. 

At least 19 bodies have been recovered so far and one person was seriously injured, said Bijendra Kumar, a railway official in Bhopal.

Junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju said at least 250 people were rescued.

Passengers on one of the trains told local media that water was overflowing onto the tracks when it attempted its crossing.

Rescue teams had trouble reaching the remote area due to the weather.

A train carrying around 100 doctors and rescuers was dispatched to the location as other medics were sent by road. 

Saksena said that by Wednesday morning, the unaffected coaches had been moved from the tracks.

The rain eased Wednesday following two days of heavy downpour. Heavy monsoon rains and a cyclone killed more than 100 people in recent flooding, landslides and building collapses.

Wire services

Wire services