Over 100 killed after train derails in northern India
At least 115 people died Sunday in a train wreck in northern India, with rescuers still working to pull passengers from the mangled coaches.
An overnight passenger train rolled off the track around 3 a.m. local time near the city of Kanpur. The cause of the derailment is not yet known.
Ranchandra Tewari, a passenger on the Indore-Patna Express, said he was asleep when the train suddenly lurched and flung him to the floor. Tewari, who smashed his head, is one of at least 150 people injured in the wreck.
"There was a loud sound like an earthquake. I fell from my berth and a lot of luggage fell over me," Tewari told reporters from his hospital bed in Kanpur.
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"I thought I was dead, and then I passed out," he said, according to the Associated Press.
Accidents frequently occur along India's sprawling rail network, the third largest in the world. Around 23 million passengers use the system every day.
The Indian government estimated in 2012 that about 15,000 people die every year in train accidents in India, largely due to outdated equipment, overstretched staff and poor maintenance. But data from the National Crime Records Bureau showed nearly 28,000 Indians died in 2014 in railway-related accidents.
Sunday's crash involved 14 train coaches, one of which landed on top of another and crushed the one below. Brig. Anurag Chibber, who was heading the army's rescue team, said he feared many more people could be dead in the underlying coach, the AP reported.
The Times of India newspaper cited sources saying a fracture in the track might have been to blame.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly expressed his concern over the derailment. "Prayers with those injured in the tragic train accident," he said on Twitter.
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The prime minister has pledged to invest $137 billion over the next five years to modernize the country's rail network.
Rail authorities said they have ordered an investigation into Sunday's derailment.
India's worst train-related accident happened in 1981. Nearly 800 people died after a passenger train fell into the Baghmati River in northern India.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
Maria Gallucci was a Science Reporter at Mashable. She was previously the energy and environment reporter at International Business Times; features editor of Makeshift magazine; clean economy reporter for InsideClimate News; and a correspondent in Mexico City until 2011. Maria holds degrees in journalism and Spanish from Ohio University's Honors Tutorial College.
