Death Toll in India Train Crash Exceeds 230, Hundreds Are Hurt

More than 230 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a collision between three trains in eastern India, one of the deadliest railway accidents in the country in decades.

(Bloomberg) — More than 230 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a collision between three trains in eastern India, one of the deadliest railway accidents in the country in decades.

A passenger express traveling from the Shalimar terminal near the eastern city of Kolkata, another from southern Bangalore city going in the opposite direction, and a freight train were involved in the crash in Odisha state Friday evening. Several people were still reported to be trapped in the coaches.

As rescue teams worked overnight at the scene, the fatalities from the incident rose to 233 by Saturday morning, with at least 900 people injured, Odisha’s top bureaucrat P. K. Jena said in a tweet.

Teams from state governments, the National Disaster Response Force and the air force were working at the site, according to Press Trust of India news agency. 

India’s rail network, one of the largest in the world, carries hundreds of millions of passengers each month but also suffers from scores of accidents. Most are blamed on outdated signaling equipment or human error. 

(Updates with higher death toll and details.)

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