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India train collision kills nine

Page last updated at 04:21 GMT, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 05:21 UK
BBC


Two passenger trains have collided near the city of Mathura in northern India, killing at least nine people.

One of the trains, the Mewar Express, was stopped at a red signal when the Goa Express rammed into it from behind, a railway official said.

Nearly 15 people are wounded and scores are trapped inside the train. Officials say the toll is expected to rise.

Officials have arrived at the scene and rescuers are using gas cutters to enter the train.

Indian army soldiers have also been deployed to help with the rescue effort.

The injured have been taken to hospital.

A railway spokesman told the BBC that buses and a relief train had been arranged to bring the rescued passengers to the capital Delhi.

The state-owned Indian railways form an immense network connecting every corner of the vast country.

It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries 18 million passengers every day.

And another fatal Indian train crash less than a month later:

India train accident kills seven

Page last updated at 05:10 GMT, Saturday, 14 November 2009
BBC

At least seven people have been killed and dozens more were injured when an express train crashed near the Indian city of Jaipur.

All 15 carriages of the Mandore Express, travelling between Jodhpur and Delhi, were derailed.

Rescuers are using metal-cutting equipment to try to free people trapped in three overturned carriages.

India's vast railway network carries many millions of people daily, but has a poor safety record.

Last week, 14 people were killed when a passenger train rammed into a truck at an unmanned railway crossing in Uttar Pradesh.

And in October, two passenger trains collided near the city of Mathura in northern India, killing at least 22 people.

Must be a mistake, there cannot only be nine, was it not ninety or more?

This was a first report. Often the death toll rises after a day or two when the seriously injured die, or when more bodies are discovered in the wreckage. That will probably be reported in the local media, but I suppose the international media loses interest after the initial report.

Hmm, what accident was that?!!