52 wedding guests die in rail crossing crash
A train smashed into a tractor carrying wedding guests at a crossing in western India today, killing at least 52 people and injuring 10 others.
The accident occurred near Kanhan, a small town 490 miles north east of Bombay, when a local train collided with a tractor and its trailer as it was crossing the tracks, said Jagdish Kumar, deputy general manager of South-Eastern Central Railway.
“The death toll has gone up to 52. There were 62 people in the trailer. They were going to attend a marriage. Ten are injured,” Kumar said.
He said no one was injured on the train, which did not derail despite the impact.
“The passenger train was travelling at about 45 mph and the driver applied the emergency brakes,” Kumar said.
Train accidents are common in India, where poor safety standards plague the state-run rail network – the world’s third-largest after Russia and China.
