21 Killed in India Train Wreck

Cause for commuter train crash unknown

(AP) - Rescuers searched through the wreckage of a packed express train for people trapped inside after it derailed in northern India today, killing at least 31 and injuring more than 100 others, officials said. The Kalka Mail train was on its way to Kalka, in the foothills of the Himalayas, from Howrah, a station near Kolkata in eastern India, when 12 coaches and the engine jumped the tracks near the town of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh state, a senior railway official said. More»

Truck drivers, train engineer watched tragedy unfold

(NEWSER) - The death toll from Friday's Amtrak accident is now at 6, and authorities say another 28 people are unaccounted for. But that may be because passengers left the scene without letting officials know, the AP reports. As the truck plowed into the train, two truck drivers watched helplessly from behind. The warning gates and lights were functioning, but for some reason the lead truck did not stop; authorities are still searching for clues as to why not. The semitrailer skidded 100 yards before plowing through the gates and into the train. More»

5 adults crushed as they huddled around stuck babies

(NEWSER) - A speeding Indian train killed a group of elephants as adult herd members tried to protect two calves who had become stuck in the tracks. Five adults and the two young animals died in the accident. Train traffic was suspended as surviving members of the herd huddled around the dead. The train was going twice the speed limit allowed along the wildlife corridor, and conservation officials have lodged a complaint against the railway. Hundreds of human sympathizers staged an angry protest over the deaths, reports the Telegraph . The accident in West Bengal occurred just as Hindus celebrated the end of an 11-day festival marking the birth of elephant-headed god Lord Ganesha. More»

Officials have not yet ruled out sabotage

(NEWSER) - A train crash powerful enough to thrust the roof of one of its cars into a bridge above the tracks has killed 61 people in India. Another 120 were injured after the express train hit a standing train early today at a station in the town of Sainthia, about 125 miles north of Calcutta, reports the BBC . Police are looking into the possibility that faulty signaling was behind the crash, though the AP notes that they have not ruled out sabotage. The accident, which destroyed a luggage car and two passenger cars reserved for those with the cheapest tickets, marks West Bengal's second major rail calamity this year. More»

(NEWSER) - Experts suspect yesterday’s deadly subway collision in Washington was the result of both a system failure and human error, the Washington Post reports. The city’s trains are run by onboard computers, which should, theoretically, prevent trains from colliding. The system has failed once before, in 2005, but the operators hit the emergency brakes in time. It appears yesterday’s operator did not. More»