India suffers its most horrific rail accident in decades

Rescuers continue to look for survivors of the catastrophic triple train collision in India’s eastern state of Odisha, which has become the nation’s most fatal railway disaster in over 25 years.

The number of fatalities has grown to 288 by Saturday morning, Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of the Odisha state fire department, told AFP. The official added that more than 850 were injured.

The tragedy occurred on Friday evening at a station in the city of Balasore. A passenger train crashed into a cargo train, causing from ten to 12 freight cars to fall onto the opposite track. Shortly after that, a second passenger train collided with the freight cars and derailed as well, according to Indian Railways spokesman Amitabh Sharma.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an emergency meeting over crash on Saturday. The premier also posted a tweet, saying he was “distressed” by what had happened. “In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected,” he wrote.

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