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At least 24 killed, 300 rescued after trains derail in India

New Delhi - The Kamayani Express was on its way to Mumbai when it derailed late Tuesday night near the town of Harda in Madhya Pradesh state, while the Janata Express was traveling in the opposite direction when it derailed soon after.

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Two passenger trains derailed over a bridge in central India while crossing a track that was flooded by heavy monsoon rains, killing at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday. More than 300 people have been rescued.
The Kamayani Express was on its way to Mumbai when it derailed late Tuesday night near the town of Harda in Madhya Pradesh state, while the Janata Express was traveling in the opposite direction when it derailed soon after.
The trains were crossing a small bridge near the rain-swollen Machak River, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of New Delhi. Another train had passed the same culvert 10 minutes before the first derailment without any problem, but then a flash flood caused part of the track to sink into the rain-soaked ground, said A.K. Mittal, a senior railway officer.
Six coaches from the Kamayani Express and the engine and four coaches from the Janata Express derailed. The accident occurred just before midnight, and although rescue workers soon reached the site, their efforts were hampered by the darkness, officials said.

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The number of casualties, loss suffered by Indian Railways in terms of revenue and railway property and compensation paid to the next of kin of the victims and the injured persons due to train accidents during the last three years: 

Year	Number of Accidents	Casualties	Loss suffered in terms of property by Indian Railways (` in crore)	Compensation paid by Indian Railways (in `Rs)
2012-13	69	81	54.24 (Approx)	3,19,63,013/-
2013-14	71	55	27.98 (Approx)	1,49,21,759/-
2014-15	85	161	40.99 (Approx)	1,27,48,008/-
Total	225	297	123.21 (Approx)	5,96,32,780/-

* Compensation paid in a year does not necessarily relate to the accidents in that year. (Source: Government of India)
At least two coaches had been partially submerged in the mud, said railway official Anil Saksena. While most people had been pulled to safety, rescue workers were still searching for passengers likely trapped.
"We are getting reports that there were flash floods and the tracks caved in. Most of the coaches had passed but the last few carriages were derailed," Saksena said.
At least 24 bodies have been recovered so far and one person was seriously injured, said Bijendra Kumar, a railway official in Bhopal, the main city in Madhya Pradesh state.

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Alarming stats in the last five years:

 -395 accidents
- 655 casualties
- 2848 million (Rs) is the loss suffered in terms of property by Indian Railways

Year	Number of Accidents	Casualties
2010-11	93	243
2011-12	77	115
2012-13	69	81
2013-14	71	55
2014-15	85	161
Total	395	655

(Source: Government of India)

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Junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju said more than 300 people have been rescued. By Wednesday morning, the unaffected coaches had been moved from the tracks and rescue operations were nearing a close, according to Kumar. He said that railway workers would soon start repairing the tracks so traffic can resume. Dozens of trains have been blocked from moving due to the accident, while others have been diverted to other routes.
The rain eased Wednesday following two days of heavy downpour.
India has one of the world's largest railway networks and carries more than 23 million passengers each day. However, many parts of the vast network are poorly maintained and accidents are common.
While many trains are called express, they rarely travel faster than 50 kilometers (30 miles) an hour.

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Based on the inquiry reports including prima-facie, cause analysis of the consequential train accidents

Cause of the Accident	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16 (upto 15th July, 2015)	Total
Failure of Railway Staff	46	50	61	10	167
Failure of other than Railway staff	6	10	8	3	27
Failure of equipment	6	3	3	1	13
Sabotage	3	3	3	1	10
Combination of factors	0	0	0	0	0
Incidental	7	4	8	4	23
Could not be established	1	0	2	0	3
Under Investigation	0	0	1	0	1
Total	69	70	86	19	244

(Source: Government of India)
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19 dead after two trains derail in Madhya Pradesh state
Two packed trains derailed while crossing a bridge hit by floods in central India, killing at least 19 people in the latest deadly disaster on the nation's crumbling rail network, officials said.
Rescuers have been searching in darkness for passengers feared trapped on the trains that were travelling in opposite directions when some of their carriages derailed in Madhya Pradesh state.
Several hundred people have been rescued after the trains derailed within minutes of each other near the town of Harda at about 11.30 pm (1800 GMT) on Tuesday, police and other officials said.
"Nineteen people have died," Bijendra Kumar, the rail network's divisional manager, told the NDTV network.
"It (the final death toll) may increase by one or two but not by more than that I hope."
Another 25 people have been injured, other rescue officials said, adding that the carriages have not fallen into the river.
One of the trains travelling from the financial city of Mumbai appeared to have been hit by a sudden surge of water on the swollen Machak river, derailing the last four to five carriages, railway ministry spokesman Anil Saxena told Indian television.
The other passenger train, travelling to Mumbai from the eastern city of Patna, was also hit by water, with the engine and the first two to three carriages derailing, he said.
"There is some suggestion of flash floods on the tracks that caved the tracks. Most of the coaches had passed but the last few carriages were derailed," Saxena said of the first train.
Monsoon rains have hit large swathes of the country in recent weeks, flooding rivers and roads and claiming some 180 lives in mainly western and eastern India.
Police and doctors have been deployed to the accident site, with television footage showing medical supplies being piled on a nearby station platform and rescuers combing through tilted carriages.
However reports said that some rescuers had been unable to reach the site as roads had been heavily water-logged.
"If need be they will cut the bogeys (carriages) if people are in there," said Singh.
Police were having to reach the toppled carriages by walking along the roof of the tilted train.
"Rescue operations are in full swing. Things are under control and most of the people have been rescued," Saxena told NDTV.
But rescuers said operations were being hampered by flooding in the area and officers were working through the night mostly in darkness.
"The entire area has been reeling under heavy rainfall for the last few days. The roads are badly damaged, even the access road," Saxena said.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, meanwhile, said on Twitter: "Rushing emergency medical and other relief personnel to spot, darkness, water creating hurdles but ordered all possible help. Trying our best."
India's railway network, one of the world's largest, is still the main form of long-distance travel in the vast country, but it is poorly funded and deadly accidents are frequent.
In 2012, a government report said almost 15,000 people were killed every year in incidents on the rail network, describing the deaths as an annual "massacre" due mainly to poor safety standards.
In February, a passenger train derailed in southern India after a boulder fell on the tracks, killing at least 10 people.
And in August last year, an express train ploughed into a packed rickshaw in northern Bihar state, killing 20 people, some of them children.
India's government has pledged to invest $137 billion to modernise its crumbling railways, making them safer, faster and more efficient.