Train collision in India is the deadliest crash in decades

A disastrous train crash left more than 280 people dead and hundreds of passengers injured in India’s eastern state of Odisha on Friday night.

The crash involved a passenger train traveling toward Kolata, which then hit an idling freight train that was stopped at a small station, reported The New York Times. Because the passenger train was not preparing to stop, it rammed into the freight train at full speed. Dislodged train cars blocked a nearby track and were hit by a third train, carrying another 1,000 people.

While the death toll is expected to keep rising, it is estimated 288 people were killed and upward of 800 others were injured, per Reuters.

It’s one of the deadliest train wrecks recorded in the country in more than two decades, reported The Associated Press. Rescuers had to climb over the bent and mangled train cars and break open doors to rescue survivors.

One passenger, Shashwat Gupta, who was traveling with his sister and her children, told the Times that after escaping from an emergency window, he could “hear shouting, crying,” and “there was a lot of blood.”

At about 10 p.m., three hours after the crash, the director of Odisha state’s fire and emergency department told the AP that the survivors had been saved, and efforts were now “about picking up dead bodies.”

The country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, described “the courage and compassion shown by the people” of his country “in the face of adversity” as “truly inspiring.”

Survivors were transported to three nearby hospitals, reported The Times of India, one of which was the Balasore Hospital.

One health professional there said the staff wasn’t prepared for the crisis and “worked all through the night” to give “first aid to all,” per The Times of India. Passengers’ families and friends also flooded hospitals as they looked for their missing loved ones.

India’s train track record

India recently became the most populated country in the world and is home to nearly 1.4 billion people, as reported by Deseret News earlier this month.

With a large population, train travel has been an important way for residents to get around the country. The nation has been known for train derailments, though rail travel has improved, the Times reported.

Modi has worked in recent years to improve the safety of train travel in the country by creating underpasses and placing more signal conductors, per the Times. He arrived on the scene Saturday to assess the damage.

“The people we have lost, we will not be able to bring them back. But the government is with their families in their grief,” Modi said, reported the Times. “This is a very serious incident for the government. We have given directions for all lines of inquiry, and whoever is found responsible will be given the strongest punishment. They will not be spared.”

He announced that each person injured would receive compensation of 50,000 Indian rupees, about $600.

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