Authorities have provided conflicting accounts on which train derailed first to become entangled with the other
\nODISHA
\nAt least 261 people have died in India\u2019s worst rail accident in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in the east of the country.
\nOne train in Friday\u2019s accident also hit a freight train parked nearby in the district of Balasore in Odisha state, leaving a tangled mess of smashed rail cars and injuring 650.
\nThe death toll has reached 261, said K S Anand, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway. The AFP news agency had earlier quoted an official as saying 288 people had died.
\nSurviving passenger Anubha Das said he would never forget the scene. \u201cFamilies crushed away, limbless bodies and a bloodbath on the tracks,\u201d he said.
\nVideo footage showed derailed train coaches and damaged tracks, with rescue teams searching the mangled carriages to pull the survivors out and rush them to hospital.
\nPeople were seen searching for their relatives at the site and nearby hospitals.
\nPrime Minister Narendra Modi was flying to the scene, ANI news agency reported, citing sources.
\n\u201cWe have seen a large number of deaths,\u201d a witness said.
\nAnother witness involved in rescue operations said the screams and wails of the injured and the relatives of those killed were disturbing. \u201cIt was horrific and heart-wrenching,\u201d he said.
\nFamilies of the dead will receive 1 million rupees ($12,000), while the seriously injured will get 200,000 rupees, with 50,000 rupees for minor injuries, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. Some state governments have also announced compensation.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a big, tragic accident,\u201d Vaishnaw told reporters after inspecting the accident spot. \u201cOur complete focus is on the rescue and relief operation, and we are trying to ensure that those injured get the best possible treatment.\u201d
\nOdisha State Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said on Twitter that more than 200 ambulances had been called to the scene and 100 doctors had been mobilised to join 80 already there.
\nEarly on Saturday morning, Reuters video footage showed police officials moving bodies covered in white cloths off the railway tracks.
\n\u201cI was asleep,\u201d an unidentified male survivor told NDTV news. \u201cI was woken up by the noise of the train derailing. Suddenly I saw 10-15 people dead. I managed to come out of the coach, and then I saw a lot of dismembered bodies.\u201d
\nVideo footage from Friday showed rescuers climbing up one of the mangled trains to find survivors, while passengers called for help and sobbed next to the wreckage.
\nThe collision occurred around 7 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Friday when the Howrah Superfast Express from Bengaluru to Howrah in West Bengal collided with the Coromandel Express from Kolkata to Chennai.
\nJena said on Twitter that over 200 ambulances had been called to the scene of Friday\u2019s accident in Odisha\u2019s Balasore district and 100 additional doctors, on top of 80 already there, had been mobilised.
\nAuthorities have provided conflicting accounts on which train derailed first to become entangled with the other. The Ministry of Railways said it has initiated an investigation into the incident.
\nAlthough Jena and some media reports have suggested a freight train was also involved in the crash, railway authorities have yet to comment on that possibility.
\nAn extensive search-and-rescue operation has been mounted, involving hundreds of fire department personnel and police officers as well as sniffer dogs. National Disaster Response Force teams were also at the site.
\nOn Friday, hundreds of young people lined up outside a government hospital in Odisha\u2019s Soro to donate blood.
\nAccording to Indian Railways, its network facilitates the transportation of over 13 million people every day. But the state-run monopoly has had a patchy safety record because of ageing infrastructure.
\nThe state has declared Saturday a day of state mourning as a mark of respect to the victims.
\nIndia\u2019s deadliest railway accident occurred in 1981 when a train plunged off a bridge and into a river in Bihar state, killing an estimated 800 people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities have provided conflicting accounts on which train derailed first to become entangled with the other ODISHA At least 261 people have died in India\u2019s worst rail accident in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in the east of the country. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-335351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n