THIRD WORST EVER
India has one of the world’s largest rail networks and has seen several disasters over the years, the worst of them in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar and plunged into the river below, killing between 800 and 1,000 people.
Friday’s crash ranks as its third worst, and the deadliest since 1995, when two express trains collided in Firozabad, near Agra, killing more than 300 people.
Odisha state’s Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena confirmed that about 900 injured people had been hospitalised.
Rescue teams including from the National Disaster Response Force and the military were deployed, while the railways ministry announced an investigation.
Authorities said that every hospital between the crash site and the state capital Bhubaneswar around 200km away was receiving victims, with 200 ambulances – and even buses – deployed to transport them.
At the Bhadrak district hospital, bloodied and shocked survivors were receiving treatment in crowded wards.
The disaster comes despite new investments and upgrades in technology that have significantly improved railway safety in recent years.
Condolences came in from around the world.
Pope Francis said that he was “deeply saddened” by the “immense loss of life” and offered prayers for the “many injured”, while United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extended “his deep condolences to the families of the victims”, in a statement by his spokesman.
French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to India’s president and prime minister, saying in a tweet that his “thoughts are with the families of the victims”.
And United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Americans’ hearts were going out “to those who have lost their loved ones and the many who suffered injuries”.
Source: CNA
