Dozens killed in India train tragedy

Thirty people were killed and 300 were injured when a passenger train hit the derailed coaches of another train in the Indian state of Odisha‍‍`s Balasore  on Friday evening, reports NDTV.

Many are feared trapped and the casualties may rise, officials said. A third freight train was also involved in the accident, Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said.

Coromandel Express, which was going from Howrah to Chennai, rammed into the derailed coaches of the other train, which was going from Bengaluru to Kolkata, Railway Ministry spokesperson Amitabh Sharma told NDTV.

The details of the two trains are 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and 12864 Yashwantpur-Howrah Superfast Express.

Fifteen coaches of Coromandel Express came off the tracks, while two of the other train got derailed.

Odisha Fire Services chief Sudhanshu Sarangi is supervising rescue operations. Medical colleges and hospitals in and around Balasore have been alerted and 60 ambulances have been mobilised.

Over a hundred personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and its state counterpart are looking for trapped passengers and cutting through the debris to reach them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted he has spoken to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

"Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and took stock of the situation. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected," PM Modi said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted she is monitoring the situation continually personally with the Chief Secretary and other senior officers.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has told Revenue Minister Pramila Malik to go to the accident site, news agency PTI reported.

Howrah helpline - 033 26382217, Kharagpur helpline - 8972073925, 9332392339, Balasore helpline - 8249591559, 7978418322, Shalimar helpline - 9903370746, MAS helpline - 044 25330952, 044 25330953, 044 25354771

Despite government efforts to improve safety, several hundred accidents occur every year on India’s railways, which with 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometres) of track is the world’s the largest network under one management.

Two trains collided near Delhi in August 1995, killing 358 people in the worst train accident in India’s history.

Most train accidents are blamed on human error or outdated signalling equipment.

More than 12 million people travel on 14,000 trains a day across India.