India train derailment kills at least 4, dozens more injured

At least four people were killed and about 80 injured as an express train derailed in the Indian state of Bihar on Wednesday, a district official told Reuters.

Twenty-one coaches of the North-East Express train, which runs from Delhi to Assam, derailed at the Raghunathpur railway station in Bihar’s Buxar district around 9:35pm local time on Wednesday, Tarun Prakash, general manager of East Central Railway, said.

“Four casualties have been confirmed and rescue operation is under way. Twenty-one coaches have derailed,” Prakash was quoted by the Times of India as saying.

Three coaches overturned, a police official said. The cause of the derailment was not immediately known.

India’s deadly train crash renews safety concerns amid push to upgrade railway

Several other passengers and goods trains were diverted due to the accident, media reports said.

“Deepest condolences for the irreparable loss,” wrote railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the train’s evacuation and rescue were complete.

The relief train for the stranded passengers departed early on Thursday, the East Central Railway said in a post on X.

The Press Trust of India news agency cited police officer Manish Kumar as saying the injured were rushed to hospital and rescue work was in progress though hampered by darkness.

Medical teams with ambulances rushed to the scene and hospitals were alerted to receive injured passengers, another police officer, Deepak Kumar, said.

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More than 200 dead, 850 hurt in India’s Odisha rail crash

More than 200 dead, 850 hurt in India’s Odisha rail crash

India has one of the world’s largest rail networks, with more than 12 million passengers riding 14,000 trains daily, covering 64,000 kilometres across the country.

But the system has seen several disasters over the years.

In June, India experienced its worst train crash in two decades in Odisha, which resulted in the death of at least 288 people.

Most train accidents in India are blamed on human error or outdated signalling equipment.

Reporting by Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse