Train crash in India leaves at least nine dead – DW – 29/10/2023

At least nine people died and another 29 were injured this Sunday (29/10/2023) when two passenger trains collided in southern India. The accident happened in Vizianagaram district in the state of Andra Pradesh, where emergency teams have gone to treat the victims. According to initial information, a train arriving at its destination hit another that was parked.

At present, the causes of this accident, in which at least three carriages were hit, are unknown, the railway authorities said. Images released by Indian media show several derailed cars and people huddled around them as emergency crews, aided by neighbors, rescue and care for the victims.

The head of the Andhra Pradesh government, Jagan Reddy, expressed on X (Twitter) his deep shock at the event and ordered that vigilance be guaranteed in the area. On his part, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of the victims and assured that he had spoken to the Railway Minister to take stock of the incident.

Numerous accidents

The Ministry of Railways set up a hotline to help locate relatives of the victims, while Andhra Pradesh authorities ordered the rapid dispatch of as many ambulances as possible to the accident site. The event follows the derailment of a train last June in the eastern state of Odisha, which left more than 280 dead and more than a thousand injured, highlighting the country’s rail safety shortcomings.

The Asian country has the fourth-largest rail network in the world by length, with more than 64,000 kilometers of track, and between April 2017 and March 2021, it recorded 2,017 incidents with derailment as the cause in 70 percent of cases. to a recent report by the Auditor General (CAG).

DZC (EC, AP)