Updated 00:51 | Published 00:49
As the rescue work continues after the major train accident that occurred in India on Friday, the death toll is increasing. According to the rescue service, more than 200 dead have been found.
The death toll from the accident where several trains collided in the eastern Indian state of Odisha continues to rise. More than 200 victims have so far been found and at least 850 people are said to be injured. In addition, many are still feared to be stuck in the demolished train carriages.
– We have already counted 207 dead and that number will rise further. The rescue work is going on at the accident site and it will take a couple more hours before we are done, Sudhanshu Sarangi, head of the rescue service in Odisha, told AFP.
A total of three trains were involved in the accident. One of the passenger trains must have first derailed and crashed into a stationary freight train. A second oncoming train should have then collided with some of the derailed carriages, said Amitabh Sharma, head of India’s state railway company.
What caused the accident is unknown, but an extensive investigation will be carried out according to the authorities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi writes on Twitter that he is “shaken” by the incident.
“In this moment of grief, my thoughts go out to the grieving families,” he writes.
Railway track safety has improved in India in recent years following investments in infrastructure and technology. However, train accidents are still common with several hundred occurrences each year.
In August 1995, 358 people were killed when two trains collided near New Delhi in the country’s worst accident to date.