At least 11 killed as passenger train collides with cargo train in India

The rescue and recovery operation has ended and movement of trains through the accident site has resumed

A passenger train has crashed into a cargo train in central India, killing at least 11 people.

The local passenger train hit the cargo train from behind near the city of Bilaspur, about 115 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of Chhattisgarh’s state capital of Raipur on Tuesday night, senior government official Sanjay Agarwal told The Associated Press. One of the passenger carriages ended up on top of a wagon from the cargo train, Agarwal added.

The rescue team brought the carriage down to the ground after hours of work and used iron cutters to cut it open, finding another three dead bodies, he said.

The rescue and recovery operation ended early Wednesday, and movement of trains through the accident site has resumed, the official said.

Among those declared dead was the driver of the passenger train. It’s co-driver, a woman, was critically injured and admitted to a private hospital, Agarwal said. About 20 people were injured in the accident and are being treated at local hospitals.

In a statement, network operator Indian Railways said it inquiry into the cause of the accident has been started. It also announced financial aid for families of the deceased and the injured.

Chhattisgarh’s highest-elected official Vishnu Deo Sai offered his condolences to the bereaved families.

Train collisions aren’t uncommon in India. More than 12 million people travel on India’s 14,000 trains each day across 64,000 kilometres of track. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents – some deadly – occur annually and are often blamed on human error or outdated signalling systems.

A crash in the eastern part of the country in 2023 killed more than 280 people in what was one of India’s deadliest train disasters.

Other forms of transport can also be perilous. Last month, a passenger bus erupted in flames after a crash with a motorcycle, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India.