SHOCKING drone footage captured the aftermath of India’s deadliest rail disaster in two decades that has left nearly 300 dead.
Another 900 were injured after a passenger train derailed and smashed into two other trains in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday.
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Chilling aerial footage has revealed the extent of the devastation while the death toll is expected to continue to climb.
Villagers had rushed to the crash site after being stunned by a “loud bang” and bravely began pulling people out.
Hundreds of people are seen milling around the tracks that several derailed carriages are sprawled across while searching for survivors.
The wreckages of the railcars that were crammed with passengers littered the area, with some overturned by the force of the crash.
India has been rocked by the tragedy in the city of Balasore, prompting further calls for authorities to address safety concerns in a railway system that carries more than 13million people daily.
Officials have described the chaotic collision involving at least 2,200 passengers as a “three-way accident”, although the exact sequence of events remains unclear.
Several carriages from the Coromandel Express, travelling between Kolkata and Chennai, derailed at around 7pm local time after hitting a stationary goods train.
Some of the railcars then reportedly spilled onto the opposite track – into the path of the Howrah Superfast Express en route to Howrah.
A full investigation into the fatal incident has been launched, but initial reports suggest it might have been caused by a signal failure.
KS Anand, chief public relations officer of the South Eastern Railway, said: “The Coromandel Express was supposed to travel on the main line, but a signal was given for the loop line instead, and the train rammed into a goods train already parked over there.
“Its coaches then fell onto the tracks on either side, also derailing the Howrah Superfast Express.”
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the crash occurred due to a “change in electronic interlocking”.
Vaihsnaw told India’s ANI news agency: “The change that occurred during the electronic interlocking, the accident happened due to that.
“Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out after proper investigation. Right now our focus is on restoration.”
Officials have warned those responsible for the rail disaster will receive the “harshest punishment” as rescue efforts concluded.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed he would leave “no stone unturned for the treatment of those injured” after visiting the scene.
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He said: “This is a very big, painful and disturbing incident.
“Those family members who have been injured, the government will leave no effort for their well-being.”
The Indian leader said the government “is with the families in their hour of grief”, and said “all types of enquiries” were underway to determine the cause of the accident.
“The guilty should get the harshest punishment – they will not be spared,” Modi added.
Devastating stories of the moments of terror inside the carriages from survivors have continued to emerge.
Rohit Raj, 19, told CNN how he was sleeping when he was suddenly woken by a thundering sound.
He recalled: “There was smoke everywhere, we couldn’t see. Everyone was screaming, everyone was in shock.
“People were trying to run and escape from the train.
“The coach in front of me was badly mangled. People were badly trapped. I saw people piled on top of each other.
“My coach derailed, but thankfully I managed to escape.”
SURVIVORS STORIES
Another man told how he was “at the bottom of a pile” of people as passengers tumbled on top of each other as the railcars fell.
“When I came out of the train bogie, I saw someone had lost their hand, someone had lost their leg, while someone’s face was distorted,” he said.
Luggage and personal items were seen scattered across the floor as broken windows spilled glass and metal fragments from inside.
Another passenger told how he felt a “massive shake” before the passenger train he was travelling on came to a screeching halt.
Anshuman Purohi said: “As we walked, all we could here was a huge wail of human cries.
“Bloodied people, running to our coach for help and water. This was only a part of the overall accident. We couldn’t see the front.
“The coaches were on top of each other. Coaches on top of the wagon… People thrown out of the trains many feet away.”
Authorities warned the current death toll of 288 is expected to rise by more than 100 as victims succumb to their injuries in hospital.
Up to 1,200 rescuers worked through the night on Friday alongside 115 ambulances, 45 mobile health units and 50 buses.
A day of mourning was declared in Odisha on Saturday while the state’s chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, visited the wounded.
The tragedy comes as Modi was concentrating on modernising the British colonial-era train network in India.
Several hundred incidents happen annually on the country’s railroads, the world’s largest train network with a single administration, despite government attempts to increase rail safety.
The world, however, hasn’t seen a train crash so catastrophic since 2004, when Sri Lanka’s Queen of The Sea rail was hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
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