The worst train accident of the 21st century in India left 261 dead and 900 injured this Saturday, after three trains collided in the east of the Asian country last Friday, a tragedy whose perpetrators will be “punished” but whose causes have not been still explained by the authorities.
The event took place at 7:20 p.m. local time (1:50 p.m. GMT) in the Balasore district, in the Odisha region, when a passenger train derailed, after which a second train collided with it, according to the railway authorities in a statement. . A third freight train was also involved in the accident.
261 DEATHS AND 900 INJURED
Packed with passengers, the carriages were scattered and deformed alongside the tracks, Odisha General Secretary Pradeep Jena told the media, forcing rescue teams to spend more than twelve hours cutting metal to try to rescue passengers alive. or recover the corpses.
The number of dead and injured skyrocketed overnight and this morning. The latest death toll published by the southeastern division of the Indian Railways raised the death toll to 261, while at least 900 people were also injured of varying severity and were taken to hospitals in the region.
The director general of the Odisha Fire Services, Sudhanshu Sarangi, told EFE that the rescue efforts were completed around noon.
“Railways will now take charge of the reconstruction and the investigation,” Sarangi said from the accident site. Delhi television channel NDTV showed images of several cranes moving train carriages stacked on top of each other, as well as completely crooked tracks.
INVESTIGATION AND PROMISES OF PUNISHMENT
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Indian Railways Minister, announced an “in-depth” investigation into the causes of an accident about which many questions remain, since the authorities have not yet offered an official explanation for what happened.
For his part, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, went to the scene of the accident to show his sorrow for the tragedy.
“The government will spare no effort to treat the injured. This is a serious incident, and instructions have been given to investigate it from all angles. Those found guilty will be severely punished,” Modi said from one of the hospitals in the region teeming with victims of the collision.
Authorities announced a day of mourning in the state and compensation of more than $12,000 for the deceased, about $2,500 for the seriously injured and $606 for those with minor injuries.
The head of government of the southern state of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, was one of the opposition political leaders who called for the resignation of the Minister of Railways, according to statements collected by the PTI agency.
This is the worst rail accident to hit India in the 21st century, after the August 1999 crash of two trains in the northeastern state of West Bengal left 288 dead. Some 800 people died in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge and plunged into a river in the northern state of Bihar.
The event aroused the condolences of the international community, with expressions of support from the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, the president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, or Pope Francis, who expressed his “deep sadness”.
The Indian railway network is, with a length of 68,000 kilometers, the fourth in length in the world, behind the United States, Russia and China, it has some 21,650 trains and 7,349 stations throughout the country, and transports some 23 million passengers daily. passengers.