India, Nov 21 (NIA) – Rescue workers, on Monday worked into the early hours to find survivors of a deadly train crash in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh, which killed 133 passengers and left several hundreds injured.
An Indian express train derailed near Kanpur early Sunday, in one of the country’s worst rail disasters in years.
Fourteen carriages of the train, travelling between the northeastern city of Patna and the central city of Indore, were thrown off track in Pukhrayan, 65 kilometers south of Kanpur city, according to railway officials.
It is the worst disaster since 2010 when a passenger train crashed into a freight train in the eastern state of West Bengal, killing 146 and injuring over 200.
Rescue workers, in the early hours of Monday, were searching to see if more passengers were still trapped inside the badly mangled coaches of the Patna-Indore express train.
Despite the grim prospects of survivors after so many hours, relatives clung to hope.
“I am looking for my brother,” Ramanand Tiwari told NDTV. His brother Rajmani was in one of the front coaches that suffered the maximum damage, but Tiwari was optimistic: “Who knows? He may have changed his seat…We have searched everywhere…”
Local media reports said the train was packed with families, some of them travelling home for weddings. Railway officials said special trains had been pressed into service for stranded travelers.
Rescuers said the death toll could rise as many were still missing. They had been using metal cutters, torches and cranes to open up the carriages and extricate people.
The cause of the crash is not known, though reports said a track fracture could be to blame, the BBC reported.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express.”
“My thoughts are with the bereaved families. Prayers with those injured in the tragic train accident.”
Modi also promised compensation to the victims’ relatives and injured passengers, and said he had spoken to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Minister Prabhu has ordered an investigation into the crash and warned that strictest possible action would be taken against those who could be responsible for accident.
