NEW DELHI: The train crash in Odisha on Friday, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train in which at least 233 people have been killed and more than 900 injured, is one of the deadliest such accidents since independence, data shows. Here is a look at other such deadliest train crashes:
- June 6, 1981: India recorded its worst train accident that occurred in Bihar. A train fell into the Bagmati river while crossing a bridge, killing more than 750 people.
- August 20, 1995: Purushottam Express collided with the stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh. The official death toll was around 305.
- August 2, 1999: The Gaisal train disaster occurred when Brahmaputra Mail crashed into the stationary Avadh Assam Express at Gaisal station in North Frontier Railway’s Katihar division, killing more than 285 people and injuring over 300. Many of the victims were Army, BSF or CRPF personnel.
- November 26, 1998: Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express collided with three derailed coaches of Frontier Golden Temple Mail in Punjab’s Khanna, killing 212 people.
- November 20, 2016: The Pukhrayan train derailment occurred when 14 coaches of Indore-Rajendra Nagar Express derailed at Pukhrayan, approximately 60 km from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, killing 152 people and injuring 260.
- May 28, 2010: Jnaneswari Express derailment — the Mumbai-bound train derailed near Jhargram in West Bengal and was then hit by an oncoming goods train, killing 148 passengers.
- September 9, 2002: The Rafiganj train wreck occurred when Howrah Rajdhani Express derailed over a bridge on the Dhave river in Bihar’s Rafiganj, killing more than 140 people. Terrorist sabotage was blamed for the incident.
- December 23, 1964: The Pamban-Dhanuskodi passenger train was washed away by the Rameswaram cyclone, killing over 126 passengers on board. (PTI)