{"id":286698,"date":"2023-06-03T12:49:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T12:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/?p=286698"},"modified":"2023-06-03T12:49:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T12:49:16","slug":"india-train-crash-more-than-260-dead-after-odisha-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/news\/india-train-crash-more-than-260-dead-after-odisha-accident\/2023\/","title":{"rendered":"India train crash: More than 260 dead after Odisha accident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At least 261 people have been killed and 1,000 are injured in a crash involving three trains in India’<\/a>s eastern Odisha state.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One passenger train derailed on to the adjacent track and was struck by an incoming train on Friday, also hitting a nearby stationary freight train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A massive recovery operation is under way, after hundreds of emergency workers searched the wreckage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cause of India’s worst train crash in over 20 years is not yet clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials say several carriages from the Coromandel Express, travelling between Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras), derailed at about 19:00 (13:30 GMT) in Balasore district after hitting a stationary goods train. Several of its coaches ended up on the opposite track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another train travelling in the opposite direction – the Howrah Superfast Express travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah – then hit the overturned carriages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The force with which the trains collided has resulted in several coaches being crushed and mangled,” Atul Karwal, chief of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told ANI news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 200 ambulances and hundreds of doctors, nurses and rescue personnel were sent to the scene, the state’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, had earlier said 288 had died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All trapped and injured passengers have been rescued. It is not clear how serious the injuries of those taken to hospitals were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work to restore the site of the crash begun, India’s South Eastern Railway company said on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the site of the accident on Saturday afternoon, joining Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An investigation into the cause of the crash has been launched, although Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has blamed “technical reasons”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survivors and eyewitnesses have described chaotic scenes and the heroic efforts of people from nearby villages to save trapped passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mukesh Pandit, who was trapped for half an hour before being rescued, told the BBC he heard a “thunderous sound” shortly before the carriage overturned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Four passengers who were travelling from my village have survived, but a lot of people are injured or still missing. A lot of people died in the coach I was travelling in,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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India’s deadly train crashes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n