A train accident occurred in Balasore, Odisha on Friday involving three trains: Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train. This accident caused the death of hundreds of people, making it one of the deadliest train accidents since India gained independence.
India has experienced several other deadly train accidents. The worst train accident in India happened on June 6, 1981, in Bihar when a train fell into the Bagmati River while crossing a bridge, resulting in the death of over 750 people. On August 20, 1995, Purushottam Express collided with stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad, causing around 305 deaths. On November 26, 1998, Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express collided with three derailed coaches of Frontier Golden Temple Mail in Khanna in Punjab, taking the lives of 212 people. On August 2, 1999, the Gaisal train disaster occurred when Brahmaputra Mail crashed into the stationary Avadh Assam Express at Gaisal station in North Frontier Railway’s Katihar division, killing over 285 individuals and injuring over 300. Many of the victims were Army, BSF, or CRPF personnel. On November 20, 2016, the Pukhrayan train derailment happened when 14 coaches of Indore-Rajendra Nagar Express derailed at Pukhrayan, around 60 km from Kanpur, resulting in the death of 152 people and injuring 260. On September 9, 2002, the Rafiganj train wreck occurred when Howrah Rajdhani Express derailed over a bridge on Dhave river in Rafiganj, killing more than 140 people. Terrorist sabotage was blamed for the incident. On December 23, 1964, the Pamban-Dhanuskodi passenger train was washed away by the Rameswaram cyclone, killing over 126 passengers on board. Lastly, on May 28, 2010, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment happened when a Mumbai-bound train derailed near Jhargram and was then hit by an oncoming goods train, leading to the death of 148 passengers.
Due to the train accident in Odisha, several trains running through Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been cancelled.
