Passenger train collides with cargo train in central India, killing at least 8 people

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NEW DELHI (AP) — A passenger train crashed into a cargo train in central India Tuesday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others, a senior government official said.

The incident happened near the city of Bilaspur, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Chhattisgarh’s state capital of Raipur. Local television channels showed images of one train colliding with another. Rescuers were searching through the debris for survivors.

The local passenger train hit the cargo train from behind, and one of the coaches ended up on top of a wagon of the cargo train, senior government official Sanjay Agarwal told The Associated Press.

More casualties were feared because “two or three” additional passengers were trapped inside the mangled coach and feared dead, said Agarwal, who is the government administrator for Bilaspur. After hours of struggle, the rescue team pulled down the passenger train’s damaged coach and were using a crane and iron cutters to try to cut it open, he said.

Among those declared dead was the locomotive driver of the passenger train while its co-pilot, a woman, was critically injured and admitted to a private hospital, Agarwal said.

About 20 people were injured in the accident and have been taken to local hospitals for treatment.

In a statement, network operator Indian Railways said it has moved all its resources for rescue efforts. It said an 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 kilometers 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to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents — some deadly — occur annually and are often blamed on human error or outdated signaling systems.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.