Search for bodies at Indian train crash site ends; 146 dead
PUKHRAYAN, India — The death toll from India’s worst train accident in years rose to 146 on Monday after rescuers used cranes to lift the last of the twisted metal wreckage to check for bodies underneath.
About 2,000 workers were clearing the tracks and checking for damage to the rail line in hopes of resuming traffic through one of India’s busiest railway junctions by Monday evening, railway official Amit Kumar said. The government called for an investigation into what caused the accident, promising to punish anyone found responsible.
The passenger train was about midway through a 27-hour journey between the cities of Indore and Patna when it slid off the tracks at 3:10 a.m. Sunday. The impact was so strong that one of the coaches landed atop another, crushing the one below. Passengers were flung from their beds.
“I heard a loud noise,” passenger Satish Mishra said. “The train then sped up, and all the coaches derailed.”