A practice crash in jap India has killed greater than 260 individuals, officers mentioned, in one of many nation’s deadliest railway accidents in a long time.

Not less than 261 individuals have been killed and 900 injured in a collision involving a number of trains within the state of Odisha on Friday night time, based on officers.

The Coromandel Categorical, which was travelling from Kolkata to Chennai in southern India, crashed right into a derailed practice travelling from Bengaluru to Kolkata. Native media reported {that a} stationary items practice was additionally caught up within the collision.

TV pictures confirmed practice carriages strewn throughout the tracks, with some piling on to one another. Witnesses reported seeing the our bodies of useless and maimed victims strewn across the web site.

“After I acquired out of the practice, I noticed limbs scattered throughout, a leg right here, a hand there,” one survivor advised broadcaster NDTV.

A rescue operation concluded on Saturday after staff looked for passengers trapped contained in the crumpled carriages. Officers didn’t instantly say what led to the collision, which occurred close to town of Balasore, and mentioned they have been investigating.

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi visited the scene, talked to rescue staff and inspected the wreckage.

Friday’s accident was the deadliest since 1999, when a practice accident within the state of West Bengal killed 285 individuals.

“There was a deafening sound, after which our practice moved backwards and stopped with a large jerk,” Vidhan Jena, a passenger on one of many trains mentioned, based on the Instances of India. “I used to be shocked to see our bodies mendacity right here and there. It was a horrible sight.”

India’s railway community is without doubt one of the world’s largest and is significant for nationwide passenger and items transport.

However the ageing system suffers from continual under-investment and there have been a sequence of tragic and lethal accidents. In 2016, a practice derailed within the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, killing greater than 150 individuals.

Extra reporting by Reuters