At least 13 dead after trains collide in southeast India
By Vedika Sud and Heather Law, CNN
(CNN) — At least 13 people are dead and 50 others have been injured after two trains collided in southeast India Sunday, police officials said.
A train traveling from Visakhapatnam, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, to Rayagada, in Odisha, had stopped due to a break in an overhead cable when it was hit by an oncoming train, in the Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, Reuters said, citing a senior railway official.
The collision derailed two coaches carrying more than 90 people on the stationary train, the official told Reuters.
A preliminary investigation suggests “human error” caused by “overshooting of signal” by the stationary train is what led to the collision, a statement from the country’s railway ministry read.
“Out of the 13 people who died, 8 persons have been identified,” M Deepika, superintendent of police for Vizianagaram district, told CNN on Monday. She said railway police would investigate the incident.
Sunday’s collision comes just four months after a separate train accident in Odisha, where three trains collided, leaving 275 people dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Rescue operations are underway at the accident site, and all of the injured have been moved to hospitals, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on X.
The Chief Minister’s Office of Andhra Pradesh said on X it had ordered officials to take quick relief measures to ensure the injured get prompt medical attention and advised nearby districts to send first responders to the scene.
The office of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday he had spoken with Vaishnaw about the accident.
“Authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected,” the post on X read. “The Prime Minister extends condolences to the bereaved families and prays that the injured recover soon.”
India’s Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday announced compensation of $12,000 for those who have lost a family member, $3,000 for those who suffered grievous injuries and $600 for minor injuries.
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Aishwarya S Iyer contributed reporting.
