India Train Crash: Live Updates: With rescue efforts over, a battle to identify victims and restore service
A train crash in eastern India on Friday was the country’s worst rail disaster in two decades, resulting in a fatality more than 280 people and renewed questions about rail safety in a country that has invested heavily in the system in recent years after a long history of fatal accidents.
Two passenger trains collided around 7pm local time on Friday after one of them hit a stationary freight train at full speed and derailed in the Balasore district of Odisha state, according to an initial government report. At least 288 people were killed and more than 700 passengers were injured, 56 of them “serious” injuries, according to the train operator.
Some details about the cause of the crash have emerged, although much remains unclear. In a preliminary assessment, officials say it started when the first of two passenger trains hit the stationary freight train at full speed and then derailed. A second passenger train, traveling in the opposite direction, then struck some of the disrupted wagons.
According to railway officials, a total of more than 2,200 passengers were aboard the passenger trains and at least 23 cars derailed in the disaster. The force of the impact crippled cars so much that rescuers used cutting equipment to reach the victims.
One of the trains was a Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express train, according to South Eastern Railway. The Coromandel Express service is known for connecting the largest cities on the east coast of India at relatively high speed. The other passenger train was a Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express train, which ran from a commuter hub in Bangalore to Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal.
Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said he had ordered an inquiry into the cause and that the victims of the crash would receive compensation.
The train derailed near Balasore.
The crash occurred at Bahanaga Bazar station near Balasore, a coastal city in the northeastern state of Odisha known for its ancient temples and history as a 17th-century British seaport.
Balasore is a few hours drive from the nearest airport, in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha. May is usually the warmest time of year and daily high temperatures were around 100 Fahrenheit in the days before the crash.
Officials said all hospitals in the area were on standby. A day of mourning was declared in Odisha, home to 45 million people, and dozens of trains were cancelled.
Derailments are less common.
Often referred to as the lifeblood of India’s economy, the country’s vast rail network is one of the largest in the world and is vital to life and livelihoods in India, especially in the more rural areas. Almost all railway lines in India, 98 percent, were built between 1870 and 1930, according to a 2018 report study published in The American Economic Review.
The deadliest accident in Indian railway history occurred in 1981, when a passenger train derailed while crossing a bridge in the state of Bihar. The cars sank in the Bagmati River, killing an estimated 750 passengers; many bodies were never recovered.
Derailments were once common in India, averaging 475 a year from 1980 to about 2002. They are much less common, averaging just over 50 a year in the decade leading up to 2021, according to a paper presented by railway officials at the World Congress on Disaster Management.
Rail safety in general has improved in recent years, with the total number of serious rail accidents falling steadily to 22 in fiscal year 2020, from more than 300 a year two decades ago. In 2020, India had recorded no passenger deaths in train accidents for two years in a row – a milestone that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government hailed as an achievement. Until 2017, more than 100 passengers were killed each year.
Yet there are still fatal accidents. In 2016 14 railcars derailed in northeastern India in the middle of the night, dead more than 140 passengers and injuring 200 others. Officials at the time said a “break” in the tracks could have been responsible. 2017, a nightly derailment in South India, at least 36 passengers were killed and 40 others injured.
Friday’s accident was at least the deadliest since a 1995 collision about 200 kilometers from Delhi that killed more than 350 people.
Modi has made improving public transport a priority.
A major reason for the improved safety of the trains was the abolition of thousands of unmanned level crossings, which the Modi government said had been achieved by 2019. The relatively low engineering work of building underpasses and installing more signal conductors also drastically reduced. Crashes.
Mr Modi has made it a priority to improve infrastructure, especially transport systems, across the country. In recent years, railways, one of the most visible projects for ordinary citizens, have received attention for a series of high-tech initiatives. Mr Modi has inaugurated medium-distance electric trains and is building a Japanese-style “bullet train” corridor on the west coast to connect Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
On Saturday, however, instead of inaugurating a new train as planned, Mr. modes visited the scene of the train wreck.
The train system, and especially train accidents, have long influenced the fate of Indian politicians. The Cabinet position of Minister of Railways has been one of the most sought after positions as it is both high profile and influential in business and industry. Suresh Prabhu, who is credited with designing New Delhi’s world-class metro system, was forced to resign from his position in September 2017, following a series of mishaps.
Within hours of Friday’s disaster, some opposition politicians were already calling for Mr. Vaishnaw, Indian Minister of Railways.
Mujib Mashal reporting contributed.