Most train accidents are blamed on human error or outdated signalling equipment.Nothing has been making a bigger comeback than some good old-fashioned nostalgia, and technology is no exception. Two trains collided near Delhi in August 1995, killing 358 people in the worst train accident in India’s history. With 40,000 miles (64,000km) of track carrying 13 million passengers on 14,000 trains daily, they comprise the world’s largest train network under one management.

Hundreds of young people lined up outside a government hospital in the city of Soro in Odisha to donate blood.ĭespite government efforts to improve safety and update ageing infrastructure, several hundred accidents occur every year on India’s railways. Someone’s face was disfigured,” he said.Īnother witness told Reuters all he could see was “blood, broken limbs and people dying around me”.Īt Bhadrak district hospital, ambulances brought in casualties, with the bloodied and shocked survivors receiving treatment in crowded wards.

“When I got out of the train, I saw limbs scattered all around, a leg here, a hand there. One survivor told local television news he had been sleeping when the crash happened and woke to find himself trapped under about a dozen passengers before crawling out from the carriage with only injuries to his neck and arm. Right now, the focus is on rescue and relief operations,” he said.Īt Howrah and Chennai railway stations, desperate relatives gathered hoping for news about survivors. “A detailed high-level probe would be conducted and the railway safety commissioner would also do an independent inquiry. Visiting the incident site on Saturday morning, the railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, promised a “high-level” investigation into what had caused the crash. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images Rescue workers and military personnel gather around damaged carriages at the accident site on Saturday.

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