At least 90 killed in Indian train derailment

Fourteen coaches of a passenger train rolled off the track early on Sunday morning, killing at least 96 people and injuring around 150 in northern India, officials say.

The derailment occurred around 3am on Sunday near Purwa, a village near the industrial city of Kanpur, when the 14 coaches jumped the track. The express train was travelling between the northeastern city of Patna and the central city of Indore. Some coaches crumpled as they crashed into others, trapping hundreds of people inside.

“The death toll has unfortunately increased and it is 91 now,” Daljit Singh Chawdhary, the additional police director general of Uttar Pradesh state said.

“A lot of teams are currently there including local police, doctors and members of the national disaster response force. The rescue operations are on.”

All local hospitals had been placed on alert and around 30 ambulances had been deployed to transport the injured.

Indian media is reporting the death toll may be as high as 90.

TV footage showed rescue workers trying to cut through severely mangled coaches with suitcases and other luggage strewn around. Witnesses spoke of being woken up by a huge bang and being thrown around.

“We woke up to a great thud this morning. It was pitch dark and the noise was deafening,” a passenger told reporters as he waited with his family at the accident site.

“I am lucky to be alive and safe. But it was a near death experience for us.”

Medical teams were providing first aid near the site while the more seriously injured passengers were moved to hospitals in Kanpur, Chaudhary said.

It was not immediately clear was caused the coaches to derail.

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, said on Twitter he was: “Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families.”

“Prayers with those injured in the tragic train accident,” Modi said.

Modi said he had talked to railways minister Suresh Prabhu, who was “personally monitoring the situation”.

Prayers with those injured in the tragic train accident. I've spoken to @sureshpprabhu, who is personally monitoring the situation closely.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 20 November 2016

On his own Twitter account, Prabhu said: “All rescue and relief staff are working on the accident spot. Injured rushed to hospitals.”

Rail Accident relief ,all rescue and relief staff are working on the accident spot.Injured rushed to hospitals, instructed best medical help

— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) 20 November 2016

The toll was likely to go up as two air-conditioned coaches were severely damaged and people were still trapped inside, said Rajesh Modak of the railway protection force.

Kanpur is a major railway junction and hundreds of trains pass through it every day. Several trains using the line have been diverted to other routes, Anil Saxena, spokesman for Indian railways, said in Delhi.

Train accidents are common in India, with most accidents occurring due to human error or ageing equipment. Trains are the popular mode of transport for millions of Indians and around 23 million passengers use India’s vast railway network every day.

In 2012 a government report said almost 15,000 people were killed every year on India’s railways, describing the deaths as an annual “massacre”.

Modi’s government has pledged to invest $137bn over five years to modernise its crumbling railways, making them safer, faster and more efficient.

In 2014, an express train ploughed into a stationary freight train, also in Uttar Pradesh, killing 26 people.

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