India: Divers search for survivors of train crash
Army divers today searched for survivors in the submerged cars of a train that derailed and plunged into a rain-swollen river in southern India, killing at least 110 people, officials said.
The accident occurred before sunrise on Saturday in the town of Veligonda in Andhra Pradesh state after flash floods washed away a portion of the track.
Ten more bodies were found downstream overnight, raising the death toll to 110, said state Home Minister K Jana Reddy.
Scores of passengers remained trapped inside the railcars, five of which lay on their sides, partially submerged. One of the cars rested atop another.
Rescuers swam out to the train to help pull out the injured. Soldiers were lowered onto the cars from a helicopter to cut through the top and retrieve passengers who spent the night hanging on to luggage racks and ceiling fans.
Railway officials were waiting for cranes to reach the accident site in Veligonda, about 50 miles east of the state capital, Hyderabad, to lift the submerged cars from the water.
“We were fast asleep when there was a big bang and a thud. The next thing the train was under water,” said P Ramesh, a passenger who lost seven members of his family in the wreck, including his wife and brother.
“It was pitch dark and people were screaming,” he said as he waited for soldiers to cut his relatives’ bodies free from the wreck.
“I was able to clamber out of the coach, but others were not so lucky. They are still inside.”
Officials said the train – an engine and 17 cars – hit a portion of track that had been washed away by flash floods, causing seven coaches to derail. The 10 remaining cars were pulled to a safe section of the track.
