Worst train accidents in India

India has witnessed some of the worst train accidents over last few decades. Even after so many accidents the Indian railway has not learned a lesson and these train accidents continue to happen at regular intervals. Many of these could have been avoided provided there were some amount of security in place.

 

Some of the worst train accidents in Indian history.

1) Bihar train accident 1981 – In June of 1981 a passenger train which was carrying more than 500 travelers derailed due to no known reason and fell into the Bagmati river. After 5 days of struggle and work of authorities more than 200 dead bodies were recovered and many more were speculated to be missing. It is also said that the accident happened since the driver applied full brakes on a high speeding train to save a cow – one of the most revered animals in India.

2) Firozabad rail accident 1995 –

Firozabad rail disaster occured when two trains – Kalindi express and Purshottam express collided near Firozabad.  Purshottam express hit Kalindi express from behind when the latter had to stop due to jammed breaks after hitting a cow. Almost all people were asleep when the collision tool place. Around 200 people were reported dead and another 200 injured.

3) Gaisal Train accident 1999 –

Gaisal train disaster is one of the most horrific accident in the Indian rail history. It occurred due to a small mistake of railway authorities. The two trains – Awadh Assam and Brahamaputra mail collided when Brahmaputra was directed to the same tracks on which Awadh Assam was stationery. The impact was so big that an explosion occurred in the trains and most of the people were burnt alive. It is also speculated that the blast occurred due to explosives carried by military soldiers in the Brahmaputra mail. More than 285 people were killed and nearly 300 injured.

4) Khanna rail accident 1998 –

At least 150 people were killed and nearly 200 injured when Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express collided head along with the 10 derailed coaches of Frontier Mail near Khanna station near Jammu. The coaches of frontier mail were derailed due to default on the tracks.

5) Gyaneshwari Express train accident 2010 –

This train accident was caused by the Naxal Maoists in the west Bengal region. According to their statement they had removed a 48 cm railway track on which Gyaneshwari Express was coming from Mumbai. After the train was derailed it was hit by a goods train moving in the opposite direction. More than 100 people were killed in this train accident.

6)  Rafiganj train accident 2002 –

The incident took place when Rajdhani express derailed over a bridge on river Dhave dislodging 11 of 13 coaches while two of them fell in the river. The help took hours to come until which the only help came from the people residing in nearby regions. Over the following weeks 130 bodies were recovered but many of them were reportedly missing. Many bodies were swept away by the river current and were found in the nearby villages. It is also speculated that this might be work of Maoists in the region however they never took responsibility of the accident.

7) Veligonda train accident 2005 –

Due to heavy rainfall a small railway bridge collapsed causing Delta express to fall into the water logged fields of the town of Valigonda. The heavy flood was caused due to a rapture in a huge irrigation tank nearby which sent gallons of water onto the bridge. The bridge collapsed before the train could pass it. Nearly 141 people were killed and around 200 injured.

8) Ashtamudi Lake train accident,  1988 – The Bangalore – Kanyakumari island express mysteriously derailed on the Peruman bridge on Ashtamundi Lake in kollam Kerala. The exact reason for the derailment is never known but eye witness say that the train was traveling at a speed much higher than they usually saw. Nearly 105 people were killed and 200 people were seriously injured in the accident.

 

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