India train derail kills 65

NEW DELHI: At least 65 people were killed when an express train packed with sleeping passengers was derailed early Friday by suspected Maoist rebels in eastern India, a senior police official told foreign news agency.

The bodies of the passengers were removed from the mangled remains of the ill-fated coaches of the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express and the injured taken out with the help of gas cutters, a south eastern railway spokesman said.

“65 bodies have been recovered. The toll could go up,” West Bengal home secretary Samar Ghosh said.

The incident occurred at 1:30 am when the train was running between Khemasoli and Sardiya stations, about 135 km from Jhargram, south eastern railway officials said.

In Kolkata, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Surojit Karpurokayastha said that according to preliminary investigation, fish plates were found removed at the derailment site.

Five of the 13 derailed coaches fell on an adjacent track and were hit by a goods train coming from the opposite direction, reports said.

BP pauses effort to stop Gulf oil leak

LOUISIANA: BP suspended its attempt to choke off the gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday so crews could monitor their work and bring in more drilling mud, but the company said everything was going as planned and the effort was expected to resume later in the evening.

News that it would be at least 24 more hours before officials know if the procedure called a “top kill”” will work came as dire new government estimates showed the disaster has easily eclipsed the Exxon Valdez as the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

The top kill try was the latest in a string of attempts to stop the oil that has been spewing for five weeks, since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers were killed in the accident.

30 killed as train derails in India

SARDIHA: An express train packed with sleeping passengers derailed in India Friday and slammed into a goods train, killing at least 30 people in a suspected attack by Maoist rebels, officials said.

More bodies were feared trapped in the mangled wreckage after 13 carriages of the Mumbai-bound express train careened off the tracks in the state of West Bengal and collided with the oncoming freight train.

Initial reports had suggested the derailment was triggered by an explosion, but senior police officers said there was evidence that the fishplates used to secure adjoining sections of track had been removed.

“We found some Maoist leaflets at the site so it appears to be the work of Maoists,” West Bengal police chief Bhupinder Singh told foreign news agency.

Two trains collide after blast in eastern India, 30 dead, 150 injured

An express train packed with sleeping passengers derailed in India Friday and slammed into a goods train, killing at least 30 people in an apparent attack by Maoist rebels, officials said.
More fatalities were feared in the mangled wreckage after 13 carriages of the Mumbai-bound express train careened off the tracks in the state of West Bengal and collided with the oncoming freight train. Initial reports indicated the derailment may have been triggered by an act of sabotage, with officials pointing the finger at Maoist rebels who are active in the region of eastern India. West Bengal Relief Minister Mortaja Hussain said hundreds of people had yet to be rescued from the train, which was heading to India’s financial capital Mumbai from the West Bengal state capital Kolkata. Railways Minister Mamata Bannerjee, who rushed to the site, said she had originally been told that the derailment had been caused by an explosion on the tracks. However, several railway officials said it seemed a section of rail had been removed. The fear is that this was a Maoist attack, Bannerjee told reporters. The incident occurred at around 1:30 am (local time) in the district of West Midnapore, a Maoist stronghold some 135 kilometers west of Kolkata. Maoist fighters waging a bloody rebellion have been responsible for several train derailments in eastern India in recent months. The rescue operation is still undergoing.

rovos rail

Rovos Rail train derails
Pretoria – At least three people were critically injured when a Rovos Rail Pride of Africa train derailed at the Bosman Street railway station in Pretoria on Wednesday, paramedics said.

“The whole train derailed,” said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.

“Some of the coaches are lying on top of each other. They had to cut holes in the roofs to get the passengers out.”

Botha said 32 passengers sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious. There were 55 people on board at the time of the derailment.

Botha said emergency services from Pretoria, private ambulance services and paramedics were at the scene. People were still being rescued from the wreckage.

The injured already removed from the wreckage had been taken to a local hospital.

Botha said it was not clear why the train derailed.
source news24

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Train Derails in Nairobi, killing 2

Train Derails in Nairobi, killing 2, A cargo train has derailed near residential areas in the Kenyan capital, killing two people. Accident occurred near Nairobi and the cause of the derailment was not immediately known, officials said. Hundreds of people gathered at the spot were dispersed by police. Injured were shifted to nearby hospitals.

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Train Derails in Nairobi, killing 2 was first posted on December 22, 2009 at 3:35 pm.