Indian authorities on Saturday raised the death toll from the Asian country’s worst train crash in two decades to 261, also injuring 900 when three trains collided in the eastern state of Odisha last Friday.
“According to the information received so far, there are 261 deaths,” the southeastern division of Indian Railways said in a statement.
The new casualty balance comes after Indian authorities this morning completed search and rescue work in the Balasore district, which involved two passenger trains and a third freight train at around 19:20 local time (13:50 GMT) yesterday. a multiple accident.
The hundreds of mobilized troops of the disaster relief forces ended a chaotic operation that lasted all night until this morning in the Balasore district, which involved two passenger trains and a third freight train by 7:20 p.m. local time yesterday. (13:50 GMT) in a multiple accident.
The accident occurred when a first passenger train traveling between the cities of Shalimar, in Calcutta, and Chennai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, derailed, leaving a second train traveling from Yeswanthpur, in Bangalore, to Howrah, in Calcutta, collided with it.
A third freight train was also involved, although authorities have launched an investigation and have not yet clarified the reason for the incident.
Authorities announced a day of mourning in the state and compensation of more than $12,000 for the dead, about $2,500 for the seriously injured and $606 for those with minor injuries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today that he was at the scene of the accident.
This is India’s worst rail accident in more than two decades, after two trains crashed in August 1999 in the northeastern state of West Bengal, killing 288 people. In 1981, about 800 people died when a train derailed crossing a bridge and plunged into a river in the northern state of Bihar.
With a length of 68,000 kilometers, India’s rail network is the fourth in the world after the United States, Russia and China, has some 21,650 trains and 7,349 stations across the country and carries around 23 million passengers every day. passengers.
Source: El heraldo
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
