nearly 300 dead and hundreds injured in a rail disaster

First modification: 06/03/2023 – 11:20

The accident took place in the state of Odisha, in eastern India. The death toll stands at 288, and many passengers may have been trapped under the carriages. “Rescue operations are continuing at the site and will not end for several hours,” Sudhanshu Sarangi, Director General of the Odisha State Fire Service, told AFP.

A passenger train, the Coromandel Express, which had just left Kolkata for the south, and a freight train collided near Balasore, some 200 km from Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state of Odisha, according to witnesses and spokesmen for regional authorities.

According to Pradeep Jena, a senior representative of the Odisha state government, a second passenger train from the south was also involved in the tragedy, but the exact circumstances are unknown.

“In total, about ten wagons with hundreds of passengers fell into the void, some of them on top of each other. The regional and federal authorities have deployed more than 200 ambulances, as well as a dozen rescue teams,” explains our correspondent in New Delhi, Sebastien Farcis.

“We hope that the rescue operations will continue until at least tomorrow morning. For our part, we have prepared all the major public and private hospitals, from the accident site to the state capital, to treat the injured,” SK said. Panda, spokesman for state authorities.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “distressed”. “My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly,” Modi tweeted, adding that he had spoken to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to “take stock of the situation.”

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said he was on his way to the disaster site, stressing that the “air force” was also “mobilised”.