Train collision kills at least eight in eastern India, police say

CNN —

At least eight people were killed and dozens of others injured after a cargo train collided with a passenger train in eastern India on Monday, according to authorities, as a top official ordered a major emergency response.

The Kanchenjunga Express, which runs between the city of Kolkata and Silchar in northeastern Assam state, was struck by a freight train south of the city of Siliguri, according to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Disaster teams have rushed to the crash location, which lies below the foothills that lead to Darjeeling, a popular mountain tourist destination famous for its tea plantations and stunning Himalayan views.

Local media pictures and video footage from the scene showed at least one train car on its side, parts of it crushed into a mass of twisted metal. Another car can be seen rising into the air at a steep angle above an engine carriage.

Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson Sabyasachi De told CNN at least eight people were killed in the crash.

A total of 52 patients have been admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, of which nine are in “very serious” condition, the facility’s superintendent Sanjay Mallick told CNN. Others have minor fractures, he said.

Banerjee, the local chief minister, wrote on X that “doctors, ambulances and disaster teams have been rushed to the site for rescue, recovery, medical assistance.”

“Action on war-footing initiated,” she added.

People gather around the wreckage of a train after a collision in West Bengal, India on June 17, 2024.

Live images from the site of the crash streamed live by local news channel TV 9 showed people gathered outside the carriages, some filming on their phones.

The crash comes more than a year