Off the wire
• Ex-marathon star coaches Kenya's First Lady  • Beijing closes coal power plant to cut pollution  • 72-year-old nun gangraped in eastern India leaves for undisclosed destination  • Major news items in leading French newspapers  • 3rd LD Writethru: Toll in India train derailment rises to 30  • Urgent: 35 killed in two suicide bombings on mosques in Yemen's capital  • Roundup: Singapore stocks end up 0.78 pct  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- March 20  • Weather forecast for world cities -- March 20  • Roundup: Protests halt Hanoi plan to chop down 6700 trees  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: At least 30 killed, 50 injured in railway mishap in northern India

Xinhua, March 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

In a tragic railway mishap, at least 30 people were killed and over 50 others injured when two coaches of an express train derailed in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

"The mishap happened when two coaches of the Janta Express train, which operates between the northern cities of Dehradun and Varanasi, derailed at the Bachhrawan railway station, nearly 30 km from the state's Rae Bareli district, around 10 a.m. (local time), " an official from the railways said on condition of anonymity.

Rescuers have so far pulled out 30 bodies and the death toll may go up later in the day, the official said, adding those injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals where the condition of some are said to be serious.

Local TV channels reported that one of the two compartments was crushed in the impact of the derailment and showed footage of rescuers cutting the mangled coaches using gas cutters to pull out passengers still feared trapped.

Quoting a railway official, a report said that a brake failure led to the mishap while the train was about to halt at the station.

Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has expressed grief over the deaths, saying that the railways has been prioritising safety as a "thrust area".

"An inquiry has been ordered into the incident," he tweeted.

After the accident, four medical teams with doctors, paramedics, and first-aid kits were rushed to the site. A total of 40 ambulances were also rushed to the spot.

The Indian Railways has announced a compensation of 200,000 rupees (3,220 U.S. dollars) for the next of kin of those killed in the accident.

The accident has disrupted train services in the region.

India's state-owned railways is the world's fourth largest network which cris-crosses the country from north to south, operating 12,000 passenger trains and carrying some 23 million passengers daily.

But it's safety record is questionable. In fact, there have been numerous train accidents in India in recent years, in which hundreds of people were killed.

Last month, at least 11 people were killed and several others injured when three coaches of the Bangalore-Ernakulam Intercity Express derailed in the southern state of Karnataka. Endi