India Train Crash Leaves 25 Dead

A train crash in southern India has resulted in at least 25 people dead and more than 45 injured, after a passenger train slammed into a parked freight train, catching fire early Tursday morning.

News 24 reports that railway ministry spokesperson Chandralekha Mukherjee said in New Delhi:

“The number of deaths now is 25 and 45 are injured out of which some have minor injuries but 10 are grievously hurt.”

Chari Sinha, deputy inspector general of Andhra Pradesh police, stated from the crash site that about 16 of the bodies are very badly burned from the fire. She said:

“The coach was meant only for women but it is not possible to say if the bodies are women or men as they are charred.”

The Star also reports that Munijayendra, a 25-year-old marketing executive who goes by one name, told Press Trust of India that:

“When the train stopped with a loud bang, I got down to see burning passengers crying for help. The worst part is we were helpless, as the heat was just unbearable.”

Railway spokesman Anil Saxena reported from Delhi that:

“It seems that the driver of the Hampi Express overshot the signal.”

Saxena further stated, according to The Star, that the driver and his assistant were among the victims at the hospital, and that authorities had not talked with either of them yet.

Officials are reporting, however that the driver of the passenger train, thee Hampi Express, slammed on the emergency brakes on seeing the cargo train stopped in front of them. The emergency brakes caused four of the Express cars to derail.

Railway accidents are common in India, according to The Star, who states that most collisions in India are blamed on either poor maintenance or driver error, sometimes both. Tuesday’s accident was near the city of Penukonda, which is about 170 kilometres north of Bangalore.