AndrewJin
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Very sad news.http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/11/20/train-in-northern-india-derails-killing-at-least-63.html
115 dead as train derails in north India; some still trapped
Published November 20, 2016
Associated Press
Rescuers work on the site of a train derailment accident in Kanpur Dehat, India, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
PUKHRAYAN, India – Rescuers worked through the night to pull people out of mangled coaches after an overnight passenger train derailed early Sunday in northern India, killing at least 115 people, police said.
The death toll was expected to rise further because rescue workers had yet to gain access to one of the worst-damaged of the 14 coaches that derailed, said Daljeet Chaudhary, a director general of police. About 150 people were injured, he said.
The train derailed at around 3:10 a.m., jolting awake passengers who had settled in for the long trip. Survivors and bodies were retrieved from mangled coaches that had fallen on their side.
Ramchandra Tewari, a passenger who suffered a head injury, said he was asleep when he was suddenly flung to the floor of his coach.
"There was a loud sound like an earthquake. I fell from my berth and a lot of luggage fell over me," Tewari told reporters from his hospital bed in the city of Kanpur. "I thought I was dead, and then I passed out."
Another passenger, Satish Kumar, said the train was traveling at normal speed when it stopped suddenly.
"It restarted, and then we heard a crash," Kumar, whose coach remained standing on the track, said at the derailment site. "When we came out of the train, we saw a few coaches had derailed."
The cause of the derailment was not immediately clear. Accidents are relatively common on India's sprawling rail network, which is the world's third largest but lacks modern signaling and communication systems. Most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error.
The impact of the derailment was so strong that one of the coaches landed on top of another, crushing the one below, said Brig. Anurag Chibber, who was heading the army's rescue team.
"We fear there could be many more dead in the lower coach," he said, adding that it was unclear how many people were in the coach.
Javeed Ahmad, the police chief of Uttar Pradesh state, where the derailment took place, said 115 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage.
The derailment occurred near the village of Pukhrayan, outside of Kanpur, an industrial city about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of New Delhi. The Patna-Indore Express train, linking the central Indian city of Indore to the city of Patna to its northeast, completes its 1,360-kilometer (845-mile) journey in 27 hours.
Rescue workers, soldiers and members of India's disaster management force reached Pukhrayan within an hour of the derailment and began pulling out people trapped in the overturned coaches.
Rescuers used cutting torches to open the derailed train cars to try to reach those trapped inside, while cranes were deployed to lift the coaches from the tracks. However, rescuers moved cautiously because some of the coaches were precariously tilted, and there was a danger that they could topple over, possibly injuring those trapped inside.
"We are being very careful in using the cutting torches," Chaudhary said.
Medical teams provided first aid near the site, while the more seriously injured were moved to hospitals in Kanpur, Chaudhary said. Of the roughly 150 injured, 72 were in serious condition, he said.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu arrived at the site by Sunday evening to monitor the rescue and relief operations. He said a special train has been arranged to take passengers from the derailed train to Patna, according to the PTI news agency. He said thousands of food packets, water bottles and cups of tea were being provided to the stranded passengers.
Anxious relatives of passengers searched for their family members among the injured and the dead at hospitals in Kanpur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern over the derailment.
"Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families," Modi posted on his Twitter account.
Kanpur is a major railway junction, and hundreds of trains pass through the city every day. After the derailment, several trains using the line were diverted to other routes, Anil Saxena, spokesman for Indian Railways, said in New Delhi.
Rail authorities have ordered an investigation into the incident, Saxena said.
In 2012, an Indian government report said about 15,000 people are killed every year in train accidents in the country, caused mainly by outdated equipment and overstretched staff.
The country's worst railway accident occurred in 1981, when a passenger train fell into the Baghmati River in northern India, killing nearly 800 people.
Prime Minister Modi has pledged to invest $137 billion over the next five years to modernize India's railway network, which is used by around 23 million passengers a day.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...3H.html?utm_source=LI&utm_medium=most-popular
At least 96 killed as Indore-Patna Express train derails near Kanpur
- Oliver Fredrick/Ruchir Kumar, Lucknow/Patna
|- Updated: Nov 20, 2016 11:16 IST
Several more are feared dead after the Indore-Rajendra Nagar express train derailed in Uttar Pradesh. (HT Photo)
At least 96 people were killed and 100 injured early Sunday when 14 coaches of the Indore-Rajendra Nagar express train went off the rails in Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh, police said.
The toll is expected to rise as some of the injured were in a serious condition, railway officials said about the accident that took place at around 3am near Pukhrayan, about 100km from here.
Volunteers and railway police were working to pull out passengers trapped in the coaches that fell on the side, said Anand Mishra, a police official.
Several people were rushed to nearby hospitals and the casualties could go up, rail ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said. A relief train was rushed to the spot, he said.
The express train was travelling from Indore in Madhya Pradesh to Patna in Bihar.
Patna-Indore Express derails: Click here for live updates
It was not immediately clear what caused the coaches to derail but sources said the nature and timing indicated that the accident could have been caused by a rail fracture.
Cracks in rails have been a cause of concern as rickety railway infrastructure struggles to keep with rising traffic.
Buses were pressed into service to help passengers complete their journey, northern central railways spokesperson Vijay Kumar said.
The S2 coach of the train was severely damaged. Four AC coaches, too, were derailed.
“Anguished beyond words on loss of lives due to the derailing of Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
Several trains along the Jhansi-Kanpur route were either diverted or cancelled, as rail minister Suresh Prabhu ordered a probe. Strictest possible action would be taken against those responsible for the accident, he said.
A team of national disaster relief force was being rushed to the spot and the director general would oversee the rescue operation in Pukhrayan, home minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav directed his top police official to monitor the relief efforts and ensure a green corridor for quick movement of ambulances.
Patna-Indore Express derailment: Five deadliest train accidents in past 5 years
- HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
|- Updated: Nov 20, 2016 11:21 IST
Police and locals during rescue operations at the site of accident in Pukhrayan near Kanpur. (HT Photo)
At least 90 were killed and more than 100 wounded when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express derailed near Pukhrayan in Kanpur early Sunday. The death toll is expected to rise.
Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu has ordered an enquiry into the accident and has assured “strictest action” against those found responsible for the mishap.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav were also monitoring the situation closely.
While the cause of the accident was not immediately known, the heavy toll is comparable to many other railway accidents in the country in the recent past.
Here are five deadliest train accidents in India in the last five years:
■ March 20, 2015: At least thirty-eight people died and more than 150 injured when the Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express derailed near Bachhrawan in Uttar Pradesh
■ May 26, 2014: Twenty-two people lost their lives when the Gorakhdham Express came on the same track as a freight train and rammed into it near Khalilabad station in Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. Over 50 were injured.
■ May 4, 2014: At least 20 people were killed and about 100 injured when the Diva Junction-Sawantwadi passenger train derailed between Nagothane and Roha stations in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
■ December 28, 2013: Twenty six people were killed in the Bangalore-Nanded Express train in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh after a fire broke out in an AC 3-tier coach. 54 passengers were expected to be on board in the B1 coach completely gutted in the fire.
■ July 30, 2012: Thirty-five passengers were burnt to death and at least 25 injured when a coach of the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...recent-past/story-CiSI6lpvvgP3LgCmtMrIMJ.html
People who are responsible must be jailed!
@anant_s
