A train crash in eastern India on Friday was the worst railway disaster in the country in two decades, killing many people. more than 280 people and refresh questions about rail safety in a country that has invested heavily in the system in recent years after a long history of deadly crashes.
According to an initial government report, two passenger trains collided around 7pm local time on Friday after one of them crashed into a stationary freight train at full speed. and derailed in the Balasore district of Odisha state. According to the train operator, at least 288 people were killed and more than 700 passengers were injured – 56 of them seriously.
Some details about the cause of the crash have emerged, although much remains unclear. In a preliminary assessment, officials said the incident began when the first of two passenger trains collided with a freight train idling at full speed, then derailed. A second passenger train, traveling in the opposite direction, then collided with several dislocated carriages.
More than 2,200 passengers were aboard all passenger trains, and at least 23 carriages were derailed in the disaster, according to railway officials. The force of the collision caused the cars to deform so much that the rescue team had to use a cutting device to reach the victim.
According to South Eastern Railway, one of the trains was the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express. The Coromandel Express The service has been known for connecting the biggest cities on the east coast of India at relatively high speeds. The other passenger train is the Yesvantpur-Howrah express train, which runs from a passenger hub in Bangalore to Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal.
Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that he had ordered an investigation into the cause and those affected by the accident. will receive compensation.
The train derailed near Balasore.
The accident happened at Bahanaga Bazar station near Balasore, a city near the coast in the northeastern state of Odisha, known for its ancient temples and history as a 17th-century British seaport.
Balasore is a few hours’ drive from the nearest airport, in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha. May is usually the hottest time of the year, and daily highs were around 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the days before the crash.
Officials said all hospitals in the area were on standby. A day of mourning has been declared in Odisha, home to 45 million people and dozens of trains have been cancelled.
Derailment has become less common.
Often considered the lifeblood of the Indian economy, the country’s extensive rail network is one of the largest in the world and is vital to life and livelihoods in India, especially are in more rural areas. Nearly all of India’s railways, 98%, were built between 1870 and 1930, according to a 2018 report. learn published in The American Economic Review.
The deadliest accident in Indian railway history is believed to have occurred in 1981, when a passenger train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar state. Its cars sank into the Bagmati River, killing about 750 passengers; Many bodies were never recovered.
Derailments used to be common in India, with an average of 475 incidents per year from 1980 to around 2002. Today, derailments have become much less common, with an average of just over 50 a year. year in the decade to 2021, according to a report. paper by railway officials presented at the World Congress on Disaster Management.
Railway safety has generally improved in recent years, with the total number of serious train accidents gradually falling to 22 in fiscal 2020, from more than 300 annually two decades ago. . By 2020, for two years in a row, India has recorded zero passenger deaths in railway accidents – a milestone that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government hailed as an achievement. Until 2017, more than 100 passengers were killed each year.
Even so, fatal accidents continued. In 2016, 14 carriages Derailment in northeastern India at midnight, killing more than 140 passengers and injured 200 others. Officials at the time said a “crack” in the tracks could be responsible. In 2017, late night derailment in southern India, killing at least 36 passengers and injuring 40 others.
Friday’s crash was the deadliest since a 1995 collision about 125 miles from Delhi that killed more than 350 people.
Modi has made transit improvements a priority.
A key reason for improving the safety of trains is the elimination of thousands of driverless railway crossings, which the Modi government says has been achieved in 2019. The engineering work is similar. The relatively low construction of underpasses and the arrangement of additional signal conductors also significantly reduce accidents.
Mr. Modi has prioritized improving infrastructure, especially the transport system across the country. In recent years, the railway, one of the most visible projects to ordinary people, has received attention thanks to a series of high-tech initiatives. Mr. Modi has been inaugurating mid-range trams and is building a Japanese-style “bullet train” corridor on the west coast to connect Mumbai with Ahmedabad.
However, on Saturday, instead of inaugurating the new train as scheduled, Mr visited the scene of the train wreck.
The railway system, and especially railway accidents, have long affected the fortunes of Indian politicians. The position of railway minister in the cabinet is one of the most sought after as the position is both well known and influential in business and industry. Suresh Prabhu, the man credited with designing New Delhi’s world-class metro system, was forced to resign in September 2017 after a series of accidents.
Within hours of Friday’s disaster, several opposition politicians had called for Mr Vaishnaw, India’s railways minister, to step down.
Mujib Mashal contribution report.
