HYDERABAD/BHUBANESWAR:
At least 10 people were killed and about 25 injured when two passenger trains collided in India’s Andhra Pradesh state on Sunday, a senior government official said.
The railway ministry said in a statement that two coaches of one of the trains carrying passengers derailed and preliminary investigation found that “human error” led to the collision, caused by “signal overrun” by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train between Alamanda and Kantakapalle .
Nagalakshmi. S, said a senior government official stationed in Vizianagaram, an area near the accident site Reuters that 27 people were injured and more than 90 people were traveling in the two coaches that were hit by the collision.
The accident occurred when the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train was stopped due to a break in an overhead wire and the oncoming train, a Visakhapatnam-Palasa Express service, ran into it, derailing coaches of the train station, a senior railway official said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered immediate relief measures and asked for ambulances to be rushed from Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli, the nearest districts to Vizianagaram, his office said in a statement.
The minister also issued orders to coordinate other government agencies to initiate disaster response measures.
Also Read: At least 288 killed in India’s worst rail accident in over two decades
The accident comes just months after India’s state-run railways suffered its worst train accident in two decades, when 292 people were killed. In that accident, a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped the tracks and hit another oncoming passenger train.
Federal police arrested three railway employees on charges of culpable homicide and disappearance of evidence.
Indian Railways, the fourth largest railway network in the world, is a state-owned monopoly run by the Railway Board. The board reports to the federal Ministry of Railways.
The rail network is undergoing a $30 billion transformation with new trains and modern stations under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost infrastructure and connectivity.
On Sunday, Modi said on social media platform X that he spoke to the railway minister.
“The authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected,” he said.
AFTER NOON @narendramodi spoke to Railway Minister Shri @AshwiniVaishnaw and took stock of the situation in the wake of the unfortunate train derailment between Alamanda and Kantakapalle section.
The authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected. The Prime Minister…
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 29, 2023
