India’s worst rail disasters

In the past two decades alone, the country has had at least 13 railway incidents that have left more than 50 people dead, including three caused by deliberate attacks.

Prior to Friday’s accident, the most recent was in October 2018, when a speeding train ploughed into a crowd watching fireworks during a Hindu festival in the northern city of Amritsar, leaving about 60 dead.

Here is a list of India’s ten worst train disasters, according to AFP records:

1981, more than 800 killed 

India’s deadliest rail accident took place on June, 6, 1981, when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in eastern Bihar and plunged into the river below, killing between 800 and 1,000 people.

1995, more than 300 killed

On August 20, 1995, 305 were killed and 344 injured in a collision between two trains at Ferozabad, near Agra in the north.

1999, 285 killed 

On August 2, 1999,  285 people were killed and 312 injured in a collision between two trains in Gaisal in the eastern state of West Bengal.

1998, at least 210 killed 

On November 26, 1998, the Sealdah Express — travelling in thick mist — slammed into a train that had derailed in the northern state of Punjab, leaving at least 210 dead.

2006, Islamist attacks kill 186 

A series of attacks on trains and stations in the Mumbai area leave 186 dead and some 700 wounded on July 11, 2006. India blames Pakistani intelligence and the Islamist Lashkar-e-Taiba.

1956, at least 154 killed

On November, 23, 1956, a train plunged into the Marudyar river after a bridge was destroyed by flooding, leaving at least 154 dead and 115 injured.

2016, 146 killed

At least 146 people died when an Indore-Patna Express train with around 2,000 people on board derailed in Uttar Pradesh on November 20, 2016, sending carriages crashing into each other.

2010, 146 killed  

On May 28, 2010, a train derailed and crashed into a freight train around 135 kilometres (83 miles) west of Calcutta, in the eastern state of Bengal, killing 146 and injuring over 200. Authorities accuse Maoists rebels of sabotage.

1954, at least 137 killed

On September 28, 1954, a train travelling between Madras and New Delhi derailed after the collapse of a bridge, leaving at least 137 people dead and 100 injured.

2002, at least 120 killed 

The luxury Rajdhani Express, headed from Calcutta to New Delhi, veered off its tracks and plunged in the swollen Dhabi river, killing at least 120 people. Railway authorities said sabotage had caused the crash, without naming culprits.

AFP