Collision derails passenger train in northeastern India, killing 3

Collision derails passenger train in northeastern India, killing 3

2012-02-04 10:40:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW DELHI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- Three people were killed on late Friday morning when a passenger train collided with a heavy construction vehicle in northeastern India, officials said. More than 50 people others were injured.

The accident happened at around 9:30 a.m. local time when the Bongaigaon-Guwahati Chilarai passenger train crashed into a bulldozer which was on the train tracks in the Kamrup district of India's northeastern state of Assam. It happened between the Azara and Mirza railway stations.

Railway officials said three train passengers were killed at the scene while more than 50 others were injured and rushed to hospitals in nearby Gauhati, which serves as the capital of Assam. Several of those injured were said to be in a critical condition.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, but one railway official said the bulldozer had gotten stuck while crossing the track at an unmanned crossing.

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.

On January 11, five people were killed and nine others were injured when a passenger train collided with a freight train in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. The New Delhi-bound passenger train was passing through a station when it crashed into a stationary freight train which had accidentally rolled back from another track.

And in September 2011, ten people were killed and more than 70 others were injured when an Electric Multiple Unit train collided with another passenger train which was waiting for a signal in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Before that, in July 2011, a total of 70 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured when a passenger train bound for the Indian capital of New Delhi derailed in Uttar Pradesh state. Just hours later, another passenger train derailed in western Assam state, injuring around 50 people.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-02-04