NEW DELHI – At least 23 passengers were killed and 64 others were injured after an express train derailed in north India on Saturday, as rescuers battle to free people trapped in the wreckage, according to media reports.
“Twenty-three people have died and 64 others are injured in the accident. Rescue and relief operations are continuing,” GS Priyadarshi, a top civil official at the accident site told AFP.
Police said the casualties were being rushed to the hospital.
“There are certainly casualties but right now the focus is on evacuation,” senior police officer Jitender Kumar told AFP by phone from the accident site.
“We are shifting everyone to the hospital. We are trying to take out those trapped inside the coaches.”
Photographs from the scene in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh showed people climbing onto upended carriages to try to pull passengers out.
The accident is the latest disaster to hit India´s most populous state. It comes just a week after dozens of children died at a hospital that had run out of oxygen there.
