(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) At least 31 people were killed and 40 others seriously injured as two trains derailed in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh late on Tuesday.
Quoting West Central Railway Public Relations Officer Piyush Mathur, Indian news agency PTI said the two accidents took place late last night within few minutes gap while crossing a culvert near the Machak river close to Harda some 160 kms away from Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal.
Seven coaches of Kamayani Express, heading to Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh from Madhya Pradesh's Mumbai city and five bogies and engine of Janata Express heading to Mumbai from the city of Patna in the state of Bihar derailed over the bridge in Harda city as the base material on the tracks got washed away in floods, the official said.
The security forces in the country launched rescue and relief operations amid fears that the death toll may go up sharply as there are reports saying some bogies were fallen to river.
The Indian railway ministry ordered an inquiry into the incident which was primarily seen as caused by problems in track as floods washed away the base of railway track passing over the bridge.
India has the biggest railway network in the world connecting 30 states. But repeated accidents, killing thousands of people, are reported due to the dilapidated rails which are more than hundred years old.
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