The Police
said that no fewer than 52 people were injured Thursday when a passenger train
derailed in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the latest accident
involving the country’s rail network.
The police
said seven coaches of the Mahakaushal Express, which was travelling to New
Delhi, came off the tracks in Mahoba district early on Thursday.
“Fifty-two
people were injured and rushed to hospitals. Most of them received minor
injuries and were discharged.
“The
condition of two passengers is serious,” district police chief Gaurav Singh
said by phone.
He said rail
services on the route was suspended as disaster management teams conducted
rescue operations.
Railways
spokesman Anil Saxena, however, said only 25 were injured and a probe had been
ordered to determine the exact cause of the accident.
Police did
not rule out sabotage.
“There are
signs of a fracture on a rail track, but it doesn’t appear to have been
tinkered with. We are investigating the matter thoroughly,” Singh said.
India’s
railways carry an estimated 20 million passengers daily and have a poor safety
record.
According to
the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 25,000 people have been killed in
rail accidents each year since 2010.
In November,
149 people were killed when a passenger train derailed, also in Uttar Pradesh.
It was the
deadliest train accident in the country in the past five years.
In January,
39 passengers were killed in a similar accident in south India.
(dpa/NAN)
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