Geo World

35 dead as two trains derailed in India

LUCKNOW: Two passenger trains were derailed in separate incidents in India on Sunday, leaving at least 35 people dead and about 200 injured in a day of carnage on the country's railways. In the first accident in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, a packed train travelling at full speed was thrown off the tracks, killing 35 passengers as twisted carriages were forced on top of each other. Later, an explosion hit another train in the northeastern state of Assam, but police were unable to say whether the blast was caused by separatist militants active in the area. About 100 people were injured in each of the derailments, officials said, with rescue teams and local residents trying to free people trapped inside the carriages. The Press Trust of India news agency reported the driver was among the injured and that the train, carrying about 1,000 people, was moving at near its top speed of 108 kilometres an hour when it derailed. The Kalka Mail was heading from Howrah, the main station for the eastern city of Kolkata, across India to the capital New Delhi when it left the tracks. Emergency teams were still working in the dark to cut their way into two carriages to search for survivors. Officials said the death toll could rise and that an investigation had been launched. Anxious relatives and friends of the passengers gathered at Howrah and other stations along the line seeking information about their loved ones. At the incident in Assam state, no fatalities were reported but 20 of the 100 injured were described by police as being in a serious condition. Both the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants are active in the region, but the cause of the explosion was not known. (AFP)