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Rescuers in India are scrambling to find survivors after a horrific crash involving three trains killed hundreds of people in one of the worst rail disasters the country has ever seen.
At least 288 people have been confirmed dead and more than 1,000 injured following the collision between two passenger trains and a goods train in the city of Balasore, in eastern Odisha state, on Friday.
But rescuers expect the death toll to rise further, as many people are thought to be trapped under upturned carriages.
“We are not very hopeful of rescuing anyone alive,” Odisha’s Fire Services Chief, Sudhanshu Sarangi, told local news channel NDTV.
The cause of the crash remains unclear but Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters Saturday that a “high-level inquiry” has been ordered into the collision, which took place in northeastern Odisha, near the Bahanaga railway station.
Video footage and photographs from the site show scenes of chaos and despair. Dozens of dead bodies can be seen lying beside the mangled trains, while police officers and survivors stand nearby. Passengers’ personal belongings can be seen strewn inside carriages and windows have been crushed, spilling glass and metal debris onto the floors. Train carriages have been torn apart.
The crash is one of the worst in recent Indian history.
