Train crash in India leaves at least 8 dead and dozens injured

On Monday, a freight train collided with a passenger train in eastern India. At least eight people were killed and 50 others were injured, authorities said.

The incident occurred around 9 am when the Kanchanjunga Express, carrying passengers from Tripura state to West Bengal state, was leaving Rangapani railway station. Four coaches of the popular and often overcrowded passenger train derailed when they were rammed from behind by the commercial train. Images from the accident site showed one of the passenger coaches being lifted off the tracks and balancing on a coach of the goods train.

The death toll is likely to rise. Local news agencies, citing police officials, reported at least 15 deaths. Among the dead were the driver and co-driver of the freight train and a conductor of the passenger train.

Jaya Varma Sinha, chairman of the Indian Railways, said rescue operations had been completed. Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s railway minister, was on her way to the accident site.

The relatively low number of casualties may be due to the fact that the rear section of the Kanchanjunga Express, which was most affected in the collision, consisted of goods wagons and the conductor’s van. The passengers were in compartments far forward, away from the point of impact.

Although an investigation has been ordered to determine the cause of the collision, Ms Sinha said human error, such as ignoring a railway signal, could have caused the accident.

The accident has once again highlighted the issue of rail safety in a country whose millions of poor people depend on the railways. India’s rail network is one of the largest in the world and is vital to the country’s economy and the lives and livelihoods of its people.

The country has invested heavily in railway safety in recent years following a history of fatal accidents. While the overall number of rail accidents has declined over the past decade, mass casualty incidents still occur. Last June, 290 people were killed in the state of Odisha when two passenger trains collided after one of them collided with a stationary freight train at full speed and derailed.

Following the incident, opposition leaders demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Vaishnaw. He had said he was trying to roll out a safety system called Kavach, which is designed to prevent accidents when two trains run on the same route. Ms Sinha said the technology had not yet been used on the Kanchanjunga Express route.