Indian passenger and goods trains collide in West Bengal

An express passenger train and a goods train collided on Monday in India's West Bengal, the state's chief minister said, calling the accident "tragic" but without immediate confirmation of casualties.

"Doctors, ambulances and disaster teams have been rushed to the site for rescue, recovery, medical assistance," Mamata Banerjee said on social media. "Action on war-footing initiated."

Images on Indian broadcasters showed tangled wre ckage of carriages flipped on their side, and one thrust high into the air precariously balanced on another.

India has one of the world's largest rail networks and has seen several disasters over the years, the worst in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar state, killing an estimated 800 people.

In June last year, a three-train collision killed nearly 300 people in Odisha state.

In recent years India has been investing huge sums of money to upgrade the network with modern stations and electronic signalling systems.

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Source: TRT