Two dead, 35 injured in India passenger train derailment

AFP | New Delhi

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An Indian passenger train derailed and overturned several of its cars yesterday, killing at least two people and injuring 24 others with rescue and relief efforts ongoing. India’s railway network is the main form of travel in the vast country, but it is poorly funded and deadly accidents often occur.

The Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express, a 22-car passenger service that runs for 2,640 kilometres (1,640 miles), derailed near the northern Hindu holy city of Ayodhya, at around 2:30 pm (0900 GMT). “Two people have died,” Indian Railways spokesman Pankaj Kumar Singh told AFP. Uttar Pradesh state relief commissioner Naveen Kumar told AFP that another 35 were injured, three of them seriously.

He added that rescue operations were finished and no one was trapped inside the train. At least four carriages had overturned at the site of the accident in Gonda district, broadcaster NDTV reported. Footage aired by the network showed passengers standing on top of a derailed compartment that had crashed onto its side while others milled about the wreckage.

“The train accident in Gonda district is extremely sad,” Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath posted on social media platform X. “District administration officials have been directed to carry out relief and rescue operations on a war footing and to take the injured to the hospital,” he added. “I pray to Lord Ram for the speedy recovery of the injured.” Anil Kumar Tiwari, chief medical superintendent of Gonda District Hospital, told AFP that a team of medics had been rushed to the accident site.