At least eight people were killed and dozens of others injured after a cargo train collided with a passenger train in eastern India on Monday, according to authorities, as a top official ordered a major emergency response.

The Kanchenjunga Express, which runs between the city of Kolkata and Silchar in northeastern Assam state, was struck by a freight train south of the city of Siliguri, according to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Disaster teams have rushed to the crash location, which lies below the foothills that lead to Darjeeling, a popular mountain tourist destination famous for its tea plantations and stunning Himalayan views.

Local media pictures and video footage from the scene showed at least one train car on its side, parts of it crushed into a mass of twisted metal. Another car can be seen rising into the air at a steep angle above an engine carriage.

Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson Sabyasachi De told CNN at least eight people were killed in the crash.

A total of 52 patients have been admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, of which nine are in “very serious” condition, the facility’s superintendent Sanjay Mallick told CNN. Others have minor fractures, he said.

Banerjee, the local chief minister, wrote on X that “doctors, ambulances and disaster teams have been rushed to the site for rescue, recovery, medical assistance.”

“Action on war-footing initiated,” she added.

Live images from the site of the crash streamed live by local news channel TV 9 showed people gathered outside the carriages, some filming on their phones.

The crash comes more than a year after India experienced one of the worst train disasters in the country’s history, when more than 280 people were killed in a three-way collision involving two passenger trains and a freight train in eastern Odisha state.

That incident shocked the nation, renewing calls for authorities to confront safety issues in a railway system that transports more than 13 million passengers every day.

India’s extensive rail network, one of the largest in the world, was built more than 160 years ago under British colonial rule. Today, it runs about 11,000 trains every day over 67,000 miles of tracks in the world’s most populous nation.

But decaying infrastructure is often cited as a cause for traffic delays and numerous train accidents. Though government statistics show that accidents and derailments have been on the decline in recent years, they are still tragically common.

More than 16,000 people were killed in nearly 18,000 railway accidents across the country in 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Most railway accidents were due to falls from trains and collisions between trains and people on the track. Train-on-train collisions are less common.

On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the West Bengal crash “saddening” and sent a message of condolence to the affected families.

“I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to officials and took stock of the situation. Rescue operations are underway to assist the affected,” Modi wrote on X.

Upgrading India’s transportation infrastructure is a key priority for Modi in his push to create a $5 trillion economy by 2025. His government last year raised capital spending on airports, road and highway construction and other infrastructure projects to $122 billion, or 1.7% of its GDP.

A significant portion of that spending is targeted at introducing more high-speed trains to India’s notoriously slow railways. (CNN)

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At least 17 people were killed and many others injured after a passenger train collided with a goods train in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh.

The accident happened when a passenger train collided with a freight train at Bhairab, about 80 kilometres from the capital Dhaka. 

The crash occurred when the Dhaka-bound Godhuli Express collided head-on with a cargo train heading to Chattogram. 

Train services to other parts of the country remained suspended following the accident. 

Several people are feared to be injured in the accident, local media reported quoting witnesses who said that many people were trapped under the train.

“We have recovered 15 bodies, many are injured,” Sadiqur Rahman, a government administrator in Bhairab told AFP.

“The death toll will rise,” he said as rescuers reported that they could still see bodies crushed and trapped under overturned coaches.

At least 100 people were injured, he added.

Many of the injured are lying under the damaged coaches, reports claimed.

Fire services personnel reached the spot and started a rescue operation, Reuters reported. The death toll could climb as rescue operations were ongoing, local police official Sirajul Islam said as per the news agency.

The number of casualties could increase, Bhairab Fire Station official Mosharraf Hossain told The Associated Press. He said rescuers and local people started a rescue operation and the bodies of at least 12 people were recovered.

Fire service officials on the spot said three passenger carriages were upturned and feared many people were trapped.

“We expect to find more bodies as well as injured passengers during the rescue process,” a fire service official said, adding, that a rescue train with cranes has left for the accident site.

Investigation launched

“An initial report said that the freight train crashed into the Egaro Sindur from behind, striking two of the carriages,” Anowar Hossain, superintendent of Dhaka Railway Police, was quoted as saying by bdnews24 news portal.

Nazmul Islam, acting general manager (east) of Bangladesh Railway, said that the container train had disregarded a signal and rammed into the last three carriages of the passenger train.

The locomaster, assistant locomaster, and guard of the freight train have been suspended, Bangladesh Railway Director General Quamrul Ahsan said adding that they have taken the steps following the preliminary investigation. (Hindustan Times)

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