DPA: Seven killed as train derails in eastern India

At least seven people were killed and more than 20 injured when several coaches of a passenger train derailed Sunday in eastern India, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, DPA, quoted railway officials as saying.

Eleven coaches of the Delhi-bound Seemanchal Express jumped the tracks in Vaishali district of Bihar state in the early hours of Sunday, Indian Railways spokeswoman Smita Vats Sharma said.

Three of the coaches had turned, trapping people inside. A team of the National Disaster Response Force and local police and fire officials had rescued most of the passengers.

Ninety per cent of the rescue work is over. The injured have been shifted to hospitals, nine are in critical condition, Sharma said.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the accident may have been caused by fractures on the tracks, a statement from the railways said.

Three trains on the route have been cancelled and others diverted.

Accidents are common on India’s railway network, which is among the biggest in the world.