Deadly train mishap in eastern India claims lives of five people, as per police reports
Train Collision in Northeast India: Kanchenjunga Express meets With Tragedy
The Kanchenjunga Express, which travels between Kolkata and Silchar in Assam's northeastern region, collided with a freight train south of Siliguri, as per West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement.
Emergency services have been dispatched to the crash site, located beneath the foothills en route to Darjeeling, a famous tourist destination known for its tea plantations and breathtaking Himalayan vistas.
Local media outlets shared pictures and videos from the scene, revealing at least one overturned train car, its metal twisted and mangled. Another car appears to be lifting into the air at a sharp angle above an engine carriage.
According to Darjeeling police superintendent Abhishek Roy, the accident resulted in five fatalities and injuries to approximately 25-30 individuals. He further explained that the incident occurred when a goods train crashed into the Kanchenjunga Express.
Banerjee emphasized through X that medical personnel, ambulances, and disaster response teams have been dispatched to the location to provide rescue, recovery, and medical assistance. She also mentioned that immediate action is underway.
Live footage from TV 9's coverage of the crash site showed crowds gathered outside the carriages, with some individuals filming the incident on their phones.
This horrifying event follows more than a year after one of India's deadliest train disasters, which resulted in over 280 fatalities in a collision involving three trains in Odisha's eastern region.
The aftermath of the previous tragedy spurred calls for authorities to address safety concerns within the heavily utilized railway system. Some even referred to the nation's rail network, one of the world's largest, as being built nearly 160 years ago under British colonial rule and currently service 11,000 daily trains over 67,000 miles of tracks in the world's most populous country.
Despite improvements in recent years, as indicated by government statistics, infrastructure decay is often cited as a factor leading to delays and accidents. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau reveals that more than 16,000 people died in almost 18,000 railway accidents in 2021, with the majority of incidents resulting from falls from trains and collisions between trains and pedestrians on the tracks. Collisions between trains are less frequent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has identified upgrading India's transportation infrastructure as a crucial step toward reaching a $5 trillion economy by 2025. In 2021, his administration increased capital spending on airport construction, road and highway development, and other infrastructure projects to $122 billion, or 1.7% of the nation's GDP.
A substantial portion of the funds allocated is intended to introduce high-speed trains to India's infamously slow railway service.
This story is still evolving and will be updated as more information becomes available.
