SARAJEVO, JUNE 3 (ONASA) – According to the latest data, 288 people died and 850 were injured in a multiple vehicle collision that took place last night in eastern India. 200 ambulances have rushed to the scene of the accident in Balasore district, says Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena.
One passenger train is thought to have derailed before being hit by another on an adjacent track.
It is the worst railway accident in India this century. Officials say the death toll is expected to rise.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of the Odisha Fire Service, said the death toll stood at 288.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his thoughts were with the bereaved families.
“Rescue operations are underway at the scene of the accident, and all possible assistance is being provided to the victims,” he wrote on Twitter.
A day of mourning has been declared in the country. India has one of the largest rail networks in the world and accidents are common, despite successive governments investing hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements.
India’s worst train accident was in 1981, when an overcrowded passenger train derailed into a river during a cyclone in the state of Bihar, killing at least 800 people.