A major accident involving three trains – two passengers and one freight – took place in Odisha today. One train hit the derailed bogies of another causing a crash of many coaches. 233 people have been killed and 900 are injured in the accident. The Yashwantpur-Howrah Superfast hit the derailed bogies of a few coaches of Coromandel Express which had crashed and fell on the opposite track, Railway Ministry spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and said in a tweet, “Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw and took stock of the situation. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected.”
Here are the biggest rail accidents in India:
- On July 7, 2011, Chhapra-Mathura Express collided with a bus near Etah district in Uttar Pradesh. 69 people lost their lives and many were severely injured. The accident took place at around 1:55 am at an unmanned crossing. The train was running at high speed and the bus kept on dragging for about half a kilometre.
- The year 2012 was regarded as one of the worst in terms of rail accidents in the history of Indian Railways. There were about 14 accidents reported this year, which include both derailment and head-on collisions.
- On July 30, 2012, a coach of the Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore, killing more than 30 people.
- On May 26, 2014, in the Sant Kabir Nagar area of Uttar Pradesh, the Gorakhdham Express, which was headed towards Gorakhpur, collided with a halted goods train in close proximity to Khalilabad station, resulting in 25 deaths and more than 50 injuries.
- A major accident took place in the Janata Express travelling from Dehradun to Varanasi on March 20, 2015. Over 30 people were killed and around 150 others injured when the engine and two adjoining coaches of the train derailed near Bachrawan Railway Station in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.
- On November 20, 2016 the Indore-Patna Express 19321 derailed close to Pukhrayan in Kanpur, killing at least 150 passengers and injuring more than 150.
- On August 19, 2017, the Kalinga Utkal Express running between Haridwar and Puri met with an accident near Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. 14 bogies of the train derailed killing 21 passengers while 97 were left injured.
- On August 23, 2017 nine train coaches of the Delhi-bound Kaifiyat Express derailed near Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, causing at least 70 injuries.
- On January 13, 2022, at least 12 coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express derailed in West Bengal’s Alipurduar, killing 9 dead and leaving 36 others injured.
