21 killed as train derails in northern India

Jul 10, 2011, 11:30 GMT

New Delhi - At least 21 passengers were killed and 150 injured when an express train derailed in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, officials said.

Thirteen coaches of the Delhi-bound Howrah-Kalka train running at a speed of 108 kilometres per hour derailed in southern Fatehpur district.

'Bodies of 21 passengers have been recovered from inside the train during the rescue operations,' district police spokesman Sunil Rai said.

'As many as 150 injured have been moved to nearby hospitals,' Rai said over telephone from the accident site 120 kilometres south-east of state capital Lucknow.

Rescue workers were using blowtorches to cut open the wreckage to pull out survivors. Hundreds of villagers had gathered at the site to help with the rescue.

The accident led to suspension of train services on what is considered one of India busiest railway routes.

Witnesses said at least eight of the 13 coaches had borne the brunt of the accident - among them several coaches had piled into a mangled heap.

The exact cause of the derailment was not immediately clear but railway officials told news channels the accident occurred after the driver applied emergency brakes.

Indian Railway spokesman Anil Saxena said a high-level probe had been ordered to investigate the reasons behind the accident.

Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as they feared many bodies were trapped inside the mangled coaches. Soldiers from the Indian army were also assisting in relief operations.

India has one of the world's largest rail networks and accidents are not uncommon. There were at least 19 rail accidents in 2010 and five so far in 2011.

In the last major accident on Thursday, 38 people were killed when a train crashed into a bus on an unmanned crossing in the same Indian state.