At least 21 dead after train accident in India

Reporter : Fazyna Masthan

Incident : Sunday 29th Jan 2017 – 0800am

Place : New Delhi, India

Two passenger trains collided in India early on Sunday, killing at least 21 people and injuring more
than twenty others, reports have said. The accident occurred at around 04.30am local time, when
a passenger train collided with another train which was waiting at a red signal near the northern
city of Agra.

Both the trains were in the final leg of their journey at the time of the collision. They were heading
to the capital, New Delhi, which is about 200 kilometers north of the accident site.

Passengers said that they were sleeping when they felt a heavy jolt. One eyewitness told
television crews that people on the upper berths of the train came tumbling down due to the
impact: "We felt a massive jolt. People sleeping on upper berths fell to the floor."

"There was a loud bang and we were suddenly thrown out of our seats. There was panic
everywhere," another passenger recounted.

A northern railway spokesman, R. D. Vajpayee, told the Voice of America news agency that the
rear coach of the stationary train bore the brunt of the collision's impact. "We had to rescue, take
out the passengers which were trapped in the last coach. And, gas cutters were used, and we had
called the army also. They had assisted us and, within a few hours, we had completed with rescue
operations."

An unnamed eyewitness told the STAR news agency that "there are many people who are injured
and many people who are dead. A lot of people fell onto the tracks because of the impact of the
collision."

Fazyna’s Report Page 1 of 2

 Railway officials said they are not certain what caused the accident, but one of the trains may
have overlooked a signal to stop. An inquiry into the incident has been ordered.

Trains are the most popular mode of long-distance travel in India. India operates one of the most
extensive and busiest rail networks in the world; 9,000 passenger trains run every day, carrying
more than eighty million people daily across the country. There are about 300 rail accidents in
the country every year, prompting calls for improving safety standards on the rail network. Earlier
this month, one person was killed when a train derailed. In February, another train accident in
eastern India claimed sixteen lives.

Fazyna’s Report Page 2 of 2