More than 200 people have been killed and hundreds injured in a collision involving two passenger trains and a goods train in Balasore district of Odisha, India.
The train accident, which is one of the country’s worst in recent years, left at least 233 people dead and 900 others injured, on Friday, June 2.
The state chief secretary Pradeep Jena, who confirmed the figures on Twitter, said the death toll is expected to rise as teams carry out a colossal rescue operation.
He added that over 200 ambulances had been called to the scene of the accident and 100 additional doctors, on top of 80 already there, had been mobilised.
India Times reports that trouble started after two coaches of the Sir Visweswaraya Terminal-Howrah Superfast Express derailed shortly after 7pm.
Around the same time, the Coromandel express heading towards Chennai on a parallel track coming from the opposite side collided with the derailed bogies at a very high speed.
Eyewitness accounts say the impact was so powerful, scores of people were thrown out of the train through the broken doors and windows.
According to the report, 12 coaches of the Coromandel Express were derailed. Some of these hit a stationery goods train on a parallel track.
