A train traveling from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state to Rayagada in Odisha stopped due to a broken overhead line when it was hit by an oncoming train in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district, Reuters reported, citing a senior railway official.
The collision derailed two carriages carrying more than 90 people on the stationary train, an official told Reuters.
A preliminary investigation suggests that “human error” caused by “overshooting the signal” of a stationary train led to the collision, the railway ministry said in a statement.
Sunday’s collision comes just four months after a separate train accident in Odisha where three trains collided, killing 275 people and injuring more than 1,000.
Officials said three carriages of a passenger train traveling between Visakhapatnam and Palasa derailed at around 19:00 (1330 GMT) after being hit by another train.
The train stopped on the tracks “due to a break in the catenary cable” when it was hit from behind by a second incoming passenger train between Visakhapatnam and Rayagada, a railway official told Reuters. Hundreds of ambulances, doctors, nurses and paramedics were dispatched to the scene to rescue passengers and retrieve bodies.
Biswajit Sahu, East Coast Railway’s senior director of public relations, said the collision was due to “human error” caused by the second train’s “overshooting of the signal”. He added that 33 trains were canceled and 22 others were diverted after the accident. Railroad officials expect the affected line to be cleared for resumption of service by Monday evening.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s office said he would visit the accident site on Monday. The minister also announced financial compensation for the victims.
India has one of the largest rail networks in the world, used by millions of passengers daily, but much of the rail infrastructure needs improvement.
Sunday’s accident comes just months after a devastating three-train crash that killed 292 people and injured thousands more in the eastern state of Odisha.
The top detective agency has arrested three railway employees in connection with the worst railway accident in 20 years.
