UPDATE 2 -- Train derailment in northern India kills 35, injures 140

[News_Editor]

UPDATE 2 -- Train derailment in northern India kills 35, injures 140

2011-07-11 05:09:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

FATEHPUR, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 35 people were killed on Sunday afternoon when a passenger train bound for the Indian capital of New Delhi derailed in Uttar Pradesh state, officials said on Monday. More than 100 others were injured.

The accident happened at around 12.20 p.m. local time on Sunday when 13 carriages of a Kalka Express train derailed near Malwa railway station in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh state. The train, carrying some 1,200 people, was coming from the city of Howrah and was on its way to New Delhi.

Harish Chandra Joshi, the General Manager of Northern Central Railways, said the train was traveling at a speed of about 108 kilometers (67 miles) per hour when it made a sudden emergency stop, causing it to derail. "It's a very, very bad and very serious accident," he said.

Joshi said at least one rescue train had been sent to the scene to assist local rescue workers, but the Indian Army also sent in rescue teams to help free those trapped in the wreckage. All passengers were believed to have been freed by Monday morning.

Indian railway officials said the accident - which left some of the derailed carriages crushed and others overturned and on top of each other - killed 35 people. At least 140 others were injured, including some who were said to be in a critical condition, indicating the death toll could still rise.

Just hours after the accident, a second passenger train derailed in the Nalbari district of western Assam state, injuring up to 50 people. Authorities said the derailment was likely caused by a small bomb blast which damaged the railway tracks.

India's railroad network is the fourth largest in the world and carries more than 14 million passengers and over a million tonnes of freight daily. But accidents are common, mainly as a result of poor maintenance and human error.

At least 23 people were killed on September 20, 2010, when a freight train struck a stationary passenger train at Badarwas railway station in Madhya Pradesh state. More than 50 people were injured, some seriously.

And on July 19, 2010, a total of 66 people were killed and 165 others were injured when two passenger trains collided at Sainthia railway station in West Bengal state. The accident followed a train derailment on May 28, 2010, in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal, killing 148 people. The derailment was caused by a bomb blast which damaged the railway track.

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