AT LEAST 31 people, including children, were killed and dozens more injured when an express train derailed in northern India on Friday (March 20), authorities said.
Television images showed two mangled carriages lying beside the track after the accident, which occurred around 30 miles (50 kilometres) from Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh.
As rescuers worked to cut people free from the metal, Neeraj Sharma, chief public relations officer for the Northern Railway, told reporters that 30 bodies had been found.
Earlier, authorities said two children had been killed in the crash and around 50 people injured.
A report said the train apparently overshot a signal before crashing into a barrier and coming off the rails.
Sharma said there would be an official investigation into the cause of the accident, which could have been down to driver negligence or the brake system failing.
Deadly accidents are common on India's railways, whose vast and rundown network carries tens of millions of people daily.
Last month a passenger train derailed in southern India after a boulder fell on the tracks, killing at least 10 people.
India's government has pledged to invest $137bn to modernise its crumbling railways, making them safer, faster and more efficient.
The railways minister said last month that decades of underinvestment had taken their toll on the rail network and promised to restore it to its former glory.
An official at the scene said one of the coaches was vacant at the time of the accident, limiting the number of deaths.
As soon as the news of the accident spread, people from nearby villages rushed to the spot to help in rescue and relief operations even before authorities arrived at the spot.
The accident spot presented a devastating sight with one of the bogies reduced to a mangle of steel.
There was some anxious moments in the area as furious locals raised slogans against the administration and railway authorities, saying the rescuers took a long time to reach the spot.
Ambulances carrying teams of doctors were rushed to the accident site to help passengers who were screaming in pain, eyewitnesses said.
Train movement on the Lucknow-Varanasi section of the Northern Railway has been disrupted due to the accident.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner Railway Safety of Northern Circle, to ascertain the cause of the derailment.
