Train Crash in India leaves 60 dead

More than 60 people are dead and 165 injured many critically, after an express train slammed into the back of a stationary passenger train. The crash occurred around 2am local in Sainthia, located about 125 miles north of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). According to witnesses, the express hit the other train so hard that authorities were having a great deal of difficulty in getting the victims and injured out of the train as the cars were so badly mangled by the force of the crash.

 

India has been over the years the scene of several spectacular train accidents which have accounted to a significant number of people killed or hurt. The entire railway system dates back to colonial times and is considered to be dilapidated and in need of modernization. The system is massive: more than 63,000 kilometres of rail, 20 million passengers transported daily, the largest rail network in Asia with more than 1.6 million employees.

 

The India government has stepped forward with promises of compensation for the families of the dead and for the injured.

 

As of this moment, there seems to be no evidence of foul play however, sabotage is not being ruled out. This past May, a high-speed passenger train was derailed and hit an oncoming freight train; a crash which killed 150 people. Local Maoist rebels were blamed for removing a section of the track.

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