About 50 people were killed and hundreds injured after three trains collided in India on Friday night, according to a local official, in what was described as a “violent” accident.
Two passenger trains and a freight train collided in an accident in the town of Balasore in Odisha state, according to a video statement from Chief Secretary of State Pradeep Jena.
In an interview with the CNN News18, he added: “We have received reports suggesting that the death toll is approximately 50, while the number of injured exceeds 300.”
Local authorities say rescue teams have been dispatched to the crash site, and the efforts include more than 50 ambulances and several fire departments.
Jena warned that more resources are needed to help the injured. “Nearly 50 ambulances reported, but the injured seem too many. Large number (number) of buses being mobilized to take the injured to hospital,” he wrote on Twitter.
One of the trains involved in the accident is the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel express, carrying passengers from West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal state, said on Twitter. The train travels along the east coast of India, between the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata, to the city of Chennai in southern India.
The accident shocked the country, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeting his condolences. “Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the wounded recover soon. Rescue operations are ongoing at the crash site and all possible assistance is being given to those affected,” he wrote.
India’s Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology announced that around US$12,136 (or R$60,000) will be provided as compensation to the victims’ families in case of death, and US$2,427 (R$12,000) ) will be provided to individuals with serious injuries and US$606 (R$ 3,000) will be given to people with minor injuries from the accident.
India’s extensive rail network suffers from aging infrastructure and poor maintenance – factors that are often responsible for accidents.
In 2021, an estimated 16,431 people died in nearly 18,000 rail accidents across the country. “The majority (67.7%) of rail accident cases were reported (as) ‘Train crash/collision with people on tracks,’ according to a 2021 report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Source: CNN Brasil
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