The toll continues to rise from India’s deadliest rail accident in over a decade, with at least 207 people killed and 900 injured in the eastern state of Odisha.
Railway officials say the Howrah Superfast Express, running from Bangalore to Howrah, West Bengal, derailed and became entangled with the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, about 7pm on Friday local time.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, the director general of the fire department in Odisha, confirmed that 207 bodies had been recovered so far.
The death toll is expected to increase, state Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said in a tweet.
Images from the scene showed rescuers climbing up the mangled wreck of one of the trains to find survivors. Videos shared on social media showed the arrival of several ambulances and people being pulled out of the upturned train coaches.
“I was there at the site and I can see blood, broken limbs and people dying around me,” an eyewitness said.
Hundreds of young people have lined up outside a government hospital in Odisha to donate blood.
Rescue teams have been mobilised from Odisha’s Bhubaneswar and Kolkata in West Bengal, federal Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a tweet late on Friday.
Three National Disaster Response Force teams are at the site of the accident, and six more teams are being mobilised.
Odisha authorities said the priority was “removing the living to hospitals”.
Rescue operations were underway at the site and “all possible assistance” was being given to those affected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
Australian Associated Press